Dennis Cirkin scored a late equalizer to help Sunderland produce one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Championship. Though they mainly controlled play at The Den and appeared poised to move into the top six due to a goal from captain Jake Cooper, the Lions will view this as two points lost. They have moved up to the seventh place and are only one point behind West Brom, who are currently in sixth place. Sunderland, who are currently ninth and further back, is still in the mix. Since Millwall adopted a more direct strategy, they had the best of the opening opportunities, with Mason Bennett’s first-time attempt off of George Honeyman’s cut-back going wide. This occurred not long after strong requests for a penalty to the hosts after Tom Bradshaw went down as a result of Aji Alese’s challenge were rejected by referee Thomas Bramall.
Although Sunderland appeared to be the cleaner team when in possession, they were having trouble creating any genuine chances before they were granted a huge let-off at the other end in the 28th minute. Former footballer Honeyman was the first to react when goalkeeper Anthony Patterson botched Zian Flemming’s attempt to score from close range, but the goal was disallowed after the referee conferred with his assistant. Charlie Cresswell’s attempt to score after George Saville’s corner just before halftime was by far the closest either team came to doing so in the first half. Bennett, a Millwall midfielder, needed extensive treatment on the field during halftime for what appeared to be a major ankle injury.
After the break, the Lions came out much more focused, and Murray Wallace’s header from another Saville corner nearly gave them the lead when it glanced off the top of the crossbar. Shortly after the hour mark, Honeyman came dangerously close to hitting his old club once more as Patterson had to scrape away his first-time shot from Danny McNamara’s pull-back. However, Millwall’s persistence paid off from the ensuing corner, which was once again taken by Saville, when a scramble inside the area resulted in Cooper lifting the ball into the net via the post. After falling behind, Sunderland improved, and with nine minutes remaining, Cirkin boldly headed the ball beyond Millwall goalkeeper George Long to give Sunderland the equaliser.
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