Millwall 1-1 Blackburn: Ben Brereton rescues point for Rovers

Ben Brereton (second left) levels for BlackburnImage source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Ben Brereton scored one goal and assisted another for Chile in the Copa America this summer

Ben Brereton's header rescued a point for Blackburn against Millwall at the Den in the Championship.

Chile forward Brereton guided Joe Rothwell's wide free-kick into the far corner in the 76th minute.

Jed Wallace had put the Lions in front, rising highest to nod home a deep Scott Malone cross at the back post in the 64th minute.

Neither side came close to a late winner in a game otherwise starved of clear-cut chances.

Blackburn had 21 shots in their Championship opener with Swansea last week, but they managed just two in south east London as Gary Rowett's side dominated possession.

When Wallace put the hosts in front, Millwall looked on course for just their second league win over Rovers from their past 12 meetings.

But Brereton's leveller silenced the boisterous home support, scoring with Blackburn's only effort on target.

Millwall manager Gary Rowett:

"I think if you look at the game, we've had 60% possession and we've had about 18 shots, while they've had about one shot and they score with it, so it's a frustrating game.

"Tony has got a good side, with good individual players, and I thought they worked hard as a team to make it difficult for us to play through them.

"They sat off and allowed us to try and see whether we can open them up and I thought we looked comfortable, without maybe having that little extra bit of zip about us to open those spaces.

"When we got the ball to our wing-backs, when we got good balls into box, when we attacked with a little bit more quality, I thought we got into some really good areas. We scored a very good goal and then we should see the game out."

Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray:

"For the two or three years he's [Ben Brereton] been with us, I've talked about maturity. He's had to grow into his body and I think he's doing that now. You could see today that he puts his body in well now and bounces off players when that was never the case for the last year or so.

"I think he's come back and has understood the physicality [needed]. I think he's always been a talented player. We paid a lot of money for Ben and I think the fruits are coming now.

"Moving forward, he's hopefully hungry for goals. He enjoys playing with this group of players, he's got a lovely, soft personality, so when I try and drive him to be aggressive sometimes, it's not natural for him.

"But you saw today that he can do it."

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