Millwall moved back into the Championship’s automatic promotion range, but could only manage a late 1-1 draw with relegated Leicester.
Substitute Macaulay Langstaff’s first goal since February canceled out Harry Souter’s opener for the Foxes, playing in his first game since rupturing his Achilles tendon 16 months ago.
This moves Alex Neil’s visiting side into second place, one point ahead of Ipswich, but the Tractor Boys now have two games in hand.
Ipswich face West Brom on Saturday and Southampton on Tuesday, both of which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, so the Millwall manager must hope automatic promotion remains a possibility when they finish the season at home to Oxford next Saturday.
Saturday, April 25th 11am
12:30pm kickoff
Leicester, whose fate was sealed on Tuesday for relegation, saw Abdul Fattaw slice wide, but opposition player Hamza Chaudhry intervened to stop Josh Coburn from firing Millwall in front.
While Coburn was preparing to shoot, Chaudhry raked the ball through and the forward, who had connected with the Leicester captain in his place, was forced to be replaced by Mihailo Ivanovic in the 10th minute.
Casper de Norre and Camiel Negri’s shots were blocked by defenders and Millwall piled on the pressure, with Ryan Leonard finding the side netting.
Harry Winks smashed Foxy’s reply before Ivanovic needed treatment following an elbow to the face from Staal, but referee Farai Haram appeared to regard this as a coincidence.
Zak Sturge was the next Millwall player to try but couldn’t find the target, with Derek Mazu-Sacco becoming the latest Lion to have his shot blocked before the break.
Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stralczyk made his first save five minutes into the second half when Stasi’s ball was deflected by Negri at the back post and Ivanovic’s close-range hook was blocked by the Pole’s foot.
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Millwall’s Jake Cooper was only given a yellow card for this dangerous tackle on Leicester City’s Abdul Fataw.
Millwall captain Jake Cooper was booked shortly afterwards for his second-half encounter with Fatau, with the Leicester man requiring on-pitch repairs. Home fans thought it should have been red.
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Curtis Davies and Jobi McAnuf think Millwall’s Jake Cooper should have been given a red card for a dangerous tackle on Leicester City’s Abdul Fatawu
Stralczyk, who came on as one of Leicester’s four substitutes in place of Asmir Begovic, made yet another good stop just before the end, tipping over Tierno Baro’s powerful header.
Chaudhry was booked for an overly strong challenge on Mazu Sacco, before Negri fired a pass across the Leicester goal.
Home substitutes Lewis Page and Jeremy Monga had their shots deflected, but Soutard broke the deadlock in the 78th minute.
Harry Souter (right) celebrates with teammate Hamza Chaudhry after scoring Leicester’s first goal.
Goalkeeper Anthony Patterson and two defenders tried to stop him, but to no avail.
Millwall needed a response and substitute Langstaff provided it in the final moments. Leonard’s flick found the forward in space in the box, allowing him to slot past Stralczyk and add a valuable point to his team’s total.
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Millwall equalized in the 90th minute with a goal from Macaulay Langstaff.
managers
Gary Rowett from Leicester:
“It’s always going to be a tough night knowing that your fate was sealed on Tuesday. I was a little bit wondering how I was going to react, how I was going to perform.
“We talked openly about the need to be professional and at least make sure we do our jobs.
On Soutard: “He headed everything from inside our box. Then another chance came in the other box and he attacked as if he was the only one to score and we missed it.
“And for him to play 98 minutes after being out for over 450 days is just incredible. At 75 years old, the medical and performance teams almost begged me to take him off, but he kept heading the next ball.”
Alex Neil of Millwall:
“At the moment we are second but obviously Ipswich have the advantage, they have a few games in hand and they still have a point left.
“At the moment we are on 80 points and we have a home game coming up. They have a job to do and West Brom and Southampton will want to win and Oxford will be the same when they play us.”
“Football is a strange game, isn’t it? We’ll see what happens with Ipswich, but I’ve been a strong believer all season that whoever comes second deserves to play. We’ll be lucky if they can do that and it’s our mission to get to the play-offs.”
“It’s a shame we didn’t win the game. We were never in contention for the top two at any point, so the boys did a great job.”
