Millwall 1-1 Bolton Wanderers: Mark Beevers ends Bolton's 378-minute goal drought
- Published
Mark Beevers (in white) scored Bolton's first goal in 378 minutes, but Millwall levelled in the closing stages
Bolton ended their six-hour goal drought, but Millwall rescued a point late on to prevent a rare home league defeat.
Mark Beevers gave the visitors the perfect start when he stooped low against his former club to nod in Joe Williams' cross.
The defender then cleared off the line during six minutes of first-half stoppage-time caused by an injury to referee Lee Swabey.
Millwall applied pressure in the second half and got their reward eight minutes from time when substitute Jiri Skalak drilled in.
Both teams had chances to win it - Lee Gregory nodded wide for Millwall, and also had the ball in the net, but only after a foul had been awarded, while Craig Noone shot over for Bolton.
Having beaten Aston Villa, Wigan and Ipswich, Millwall were aiming for a fourth home league win in a row, something they had not achieved since April 2016 - but they were stopped in their tracks by a Bolton side hunting their first away win in three months.
Beevers' diving header brought some relief for Wanderers after 378 minutes without a goal, and Millwall were kept in it during the first half by keeper Jordan Archer - ironically only in the team because Ben Amos, on loan from Bolton, was ineligible against his parent club.
The hosts improved after the break and Skalak's equaliser kept Bolton in the bottom three and Millwall a place outside it.
Millwall manager Neil Harris:
"We didn't look Millwall-like at The Den, up and at them, 100 per cent - we were five per cent off.
"I said at half-time [that] it's about finding a different way, being brave with the ball, being brave without the ball, and using the ball a lot more on the floor.
"I thought we had some excellent passages of play second half, scored relatively late in the game, and got into some really good areas. For me, summing it up, it's definitely a point gained."
Bolton manager Phil Parkinson:
"We've not had the greatest points return in recent weeks but I thought the lads played very, very well.
"Before we scored, we should have had a penalty - you've got to see it to believe it how we didn't get the penalty given.
"All in all, it's a good day's work for us. We'd have loved to have taken all three points but in terms of the way we played I've got to be very pleased."