Millwall 1-1 Nottingham Forest: Mighten strike earns visitors a draw
- Published
Fourteen of Alex Mighten's 18 Forest appearances have come as a substitute
Alex Mighten scored his first senior goal as Nottingham Forest came from behind to earn a draw at Millwall.
A forgettable but fiery first-half produced almost no chances, but within four minutes of a frantic start to the second period, both teams were on the scoresheet.
Tom Bradshaw put the Lions ahead with a simple side-foot finish after a great run and cross by Jon Dadi-Bodvarsson on the left flank.
But 18-year-old Mighten, on his fourth start for the Reds, ran onto a long ball to dink a lovely equaliser and ensure the visitors followed up their midweek win over Sheffield Wednesday in positive fashion.
The postponement of Derby County's game against Rotherham because of a coronavirus outbreak in the Millers squad meant Forest would not slip into the relegation zone as long as they avoided defeat.
But although Mighten's strike was their only effort on target, Chris Hughton's side were good value for a point thanks to a stout defensive display in a fiercely competitive game played in howling wind and driving rain.
Millwall offered the majority of the goal threat after the two-goal burst, with the lively Jed Wallace having their best chance when he shot wastefully wide from 10 yards.
The Londoners continued to press, with boss Gary Rowett making five attacking changes in the final 20 minutes.
But aside from a decent injury-time save from Brice Samba to tip over Ryan Leonard's strike, they were kept at arm's length and remain in 16th place.
Forest boss Chris Hughton:
"It's brilliant for him (Mighten). Up until then it had been a difficult game for him - he hadn't really got into the spaces where he can show his qualities.
"He's had one-v-ones and he was up against a good full-back that got tight on him, so probably up until the goal he'd had a quiet game.
"I think on the balance of play it was a fair result, but when you go 1-0 down in this type of game, which is going to be a tight game, playing against a very direct team, it's probably more about battling qualities."
Millwall boss Gary Rowett:
"I thought we performed pretty well, on the whole. I think in the first half we were very aggressive, we dominated territory but without maybe turning it into as many chances as we would have liked.
"We started (the second half) really well - Jon Dadi has shown he's growing in confidence with a fabulous run for the goal and you felt going 1-0 up so early in the second half was a massive moment in a tight game.
"It's a poor goal for us to concede - one ball does our centre-halves and it's a gift to Forest, in my opinion."
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