Huddersfield Town 0, Millwall 1
Ex-Huddersfield Town player Scott Malone grabbed the winner for Millwall as the Terriers lost their third league game in a row.
It was ex-Town right back Scott Malone who grabbed the early goal for the visitors while Town missed their second spot kick of the season as they put the visitors under pressure but could not make a breakthrough.
Millwall even thought they had doubled the lead after 61 minutes when Ryan Leonard’s goal was ruled out for a foul on Ryan Schofield after Malone’s shot was blocked while Naby Sarr spooned a late chance over the bar from point blank range as Town’s goal touch deserted them.
Town named new signing Richard Keogh in central defence as they tried to manage a defensive injury crisis and he was joined by Naby Sarr in defence.
Captain Jonathan Hogg also suffered a recurrence of his hip injury which will see him miss a fortnight of action for the Terriers.
In all there were three changes from the disappointing result at Watford as Keogh and Sarr were joined by Danny Ward while Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Romoney Crichlow, Aaron Rowe stepped down.
Scott Malone opened the scoring within 4 minutes, arriving late on the Millwall right flank to finish with a low drive into the bottom corner after Town failed to clear early pressure from the Lions following a Dan McNamara cross.
Juninho Bacuna could only hit the wall with a free kick that he won on the edge of the D after 10 minutes as Town tried to haul themselves back into the game.
And they had a golden opportunity to draw level when Lewis O’Brien was felled in the area after 14 minutes after Harry Toffolo found him.
It was only their second spot kick of the season but Town have scored neither of them after Frazier Campbell struck the crossbar with his effort – Bacuna had missed one against Sheffield Wednesday in December.
Bacuna screwed a shot wide after 26 minutes after O’Brien found him while Danny Ward’s turn and shot was saved by Bialkowski after Toffolo had played him in 6 minutes later.
Shaun Hutchinson headed wide from Ryan Leonard’s corner while Thompson skied the ball in front of goal as shot-shy Millwall showed why they have been so poor in the final third lately.
Poor Huddersfield Town second half performance as they fail to capitalise on possession against Millwall
Ryan Schofield also tipped away a Thompson cross after the break with Millwall coming more into the game in the second half as Town’s own efforts to worry the visitors floundered with some pedestrian attacking play.
Rolando Aarons had a shot deflected away for a corner before Isaac Mbenza was introduced on the hour mark for Ward who had had a poor game.
But the Terriers had a massive let off shortly after that when Town failed to clear from a Millwall corner but the Leonard’s goal was ruled out for a foul on Schofield which was quickly spotted by the assistant referee.
And the rain thundered down harder as Town toiled – Aarons was replaced by youngster Pat Jones after he tired.
Bacuna’s corner was skied over the bar by a stretching Naby Sarr with 18 minutes to go as their goal touch looked to have deserted them with the withdrawl of both wingers.
The visitors made four changes for the last 15 minutes to hold on to their lead – Mahlon Romeo, Tom Bradshaw, Shane Ferguson, and Kenneth Zohore came on while
McNamara, Jed Wallace, Shaun Williams, and Jon Badi Bodvarsson were taken off.
Keogh and Bacuna were replaced by Alex Pritchard and Kieran Phillips for the last five minutes but O’Brien put an injury time header from Pritchard’s corner wide which meant that Town lost their fourth game in a row in all competitions to remain winless in 2021.
GOAL – Huddersfield Town 0, Millwall 1
Huddersfield Town 0, Millwall 1: 4. Scott Malone found himself in space and drilled home a low drive into the Town net after they failed to clear a Dan McNamara cross.
MATCH STATS – Huddersfield Town 0, Millwall 1
Huddersfield Town: Schofield, Keogh (Pritchard 85), Vallejo, Sarr, Pipa, Bacuna (Phillips 85), O’Brien, Toffolo, Ward (Mbenza 60), Aarons (Jones 68), Campbell
Huddersfield Town subs not used: Pereira, Duhaney, Crichlow, Brown, High
Millwall: Bialkowski, Williams (Ferguson 75), Hutchinson, Cooper, McNamara (Romeo 75), Leonard, Woods, Thompson, J Wallace (Bradshaw 75), Bodvarsson (Zohore 76), Malone
Millwall Subs not used: Fielding, Smith, Pearce, Bennett, Parrott
Booked: McNamara, Woods
Goal: Malone 4
Referee: Peter Bankes