Callum Brittain’s first goal for Blackburn earned his side a third straight win in the Championship as they came from behind to defeat managerless Millwall 2-1 at The Den.
It certainly was not the finish of a man who had not previously struck since signing from Barnsley last year, but it enabled Jon Dahl Tomasson’s team to seal the points.
This was Millwall’s first home game since the departure of Gary Rowett six days ago, and his former charges are now winless in three.
They were, however, ahead in only the third minute when Jake Cooper kept alive Joe Bryan’s free-kick, allowing Wes Harding to get in a fairly tame header on goal.
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It was one that Blackburn goalkeeper Leopold Wahlstedt somehow allowed to run in through his legs and give Harding his first Lions goal since his summer move from Rotherham.
Another goalkeeping clanger then gifted the visitors an equaliser after 22 minutes when Joe Rankin-Costello played a one-two with Brittain before his shot squirmed under Bartosz Bialkowski and trickled in.
Rovers almost completed the turnaround just after the half-hour when Dominic Hyam’s ball across was flicked goalwards by Harry Pickering, but Bialkowski this time got down to save.
Blackburn looked the more likely to move ahead in the remainder of the half, but the two teams went into the break level in the score and level when it came to errors by the men between the sticks.
Parity was broken six minutes into the second half when James Hill’s pass put Brittain into space and he was able to advance into the area before bending a superb finish into the top corner to put the visitors ahead.
Millwall responded well, however, and were almost level within three minutes as Tom Bradshaw’s header needed to be pushed over the bar by Wahlstedt.
Blackburn then should have moved further in front in the 59th minute when substitute Andrew Moran was put through by Rankin-Costello, only to be denied by Bialkowski, who then clawed away Sammie Szmodics’ header moments later.
Still in the hunt, the Lions again came close to equalising when Romain Esse’s chipped ball into the box was flicked wide by Cooper’s head.
Then from George Honeyman’s corner, Bradshaw flicked the ball on, but the sliding Harding was unable to turn it home at the back post.
Bialkowski then continued to keep the hosts alive, when he did brilliantly to tip Szmodics’ effort onto the bar after Blackburn’s top scorer had been teed up by Tyrhys Dolan, but Brittain’s super strike was enough to claim the points.
The managers
Millwall interim Adam Barrett:
“I thought the second half was much better.
“I wanted the lads to play quickly, to move the ball quickly with a little bit of spark and the first half at times just looked a bit edgy.
“I thought the shape was good, you’ve got to be careful against this side because, as we know, they’ve got some very good players and if you get it wrong, they can open you up.
“With the second goal, Joe [Bryan] takes the free-kick, goes down with a groin injury and all of a sudden, they break and score down that side where he would have been.
“Little things just didn’t go for us tonight, but there were a lot of positives, especially in the second half.
“We’ve put a good spell in the game, we’ve now got to do it for longer periods.”
Blackburn’s Jon Dahl Tomasson:
“He [Brittain] hadn’t scored – maybe in training once – it’s his first goal in four years, so it’s great to see a finish like that after a switch of play from James Hill.
“So, I’m delighted but I’m almost extremely happy to give our fans a good journey back.”
When asked if Brittain had shown signs that he had a goal of such quality in him, Tomasson said: “I’d be lying if I said yes.
“It was an excellent switch of play, we knew there was space opposite and of course the finish was also excellent.
“We probably could have made it a little bit easier for ourselves and take one of those chances [later in the game] so the game was over, but in the end I think we defended our box against a difficult side who bring a lot of balls into the box.
“I thought we were fighting and showing the right attitude.”
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