Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Millwall: Lions inflict rare home defeat on Pilgrims
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Zian Flemming's dinked finish was just his second goal of the season for Millwall
Millwall got their first away win in the Championship since the opening day of the season as they inflicted a rare home defeat on Plymouth Argyle.
Argyle had the best of a goalless first half as Morgan Whittaker, Bali Mumba and Kaine Kesler-Hayden all tested Bartosz Bialkowski in the Millwall goal.
Duncan Watmore should have put Millwall ahead soon after the restart as his close range effort was saved by Conor Hazard's legs before the forward set up Zian Flemming to calmly put the Lions in front.
Millwall defended their lead well before securing victory in the seventh minute of stoppage time as Flemming dispossessed Kesler-Hayden before playing in George Saville to score.
The defeat was just a fourth home loss in 28 games for the Pilgrims going back to the start of last season - a record that was the best in the EFL.
Millwall jump above Plymouth into 11th place in the Championship as the hosts drop to 15th position.
Argyle reverted to a back four having picked three central defenders and wing-backs in the 6-2 win over Norwich and the draw at Hull City.
It almost paid immediate dividends as Whittaker had a fierce effort palmed away by Bialkowski inside the opening two minutes before Adam Randell curled a follow-up wide.
Watmore had a long-range effort saved for Millwall soon after, but it was the hosts who gradually asserted control as Finn Azaz pulled the strings in midfield. The Republic of Ireland Under-21 player curled a 23rd-minute effort just wide before Kesler-Hayden had a shot batted away and Mumba went close having been put in by Azaz.
Players and fans paused in the 44th minute to pay tribute to Argyle fan Ian 'Bomber' Harris who died from cancer at the weekend aged 44
Watmore should have put the Lions in front after the restart, but they did go ahead as Mikel Miller's header fell to Watmore and his precise through-ball set Flemming away to dink a right-footed finish past the onrushing Hazard.
With a lead to defend Millwall did superbly to quell any Argyle threat, showing great discipline to allow the hosts to play in front of them but rarely let them break through.
When Argyle did get in with 12 minutes left Azaz tripped over as he went to shoot, to the frustration of the Home Park faithful, while Mumba had a deflected effort from the edge of the box saved with nine minutes to go.
Substitute Mustapha Bundu forced Bialkowski into a save after a powerful drive towards the near post while Murray Wallace blocked Ben Waine's effort after a slip by one of his fellow defenders.
The evening was capped off for Gary Rowett's side as Flemming bundled Kesler-Hayden off the ball - to the ire of the home fans - before teeing up Saville who finished into the top corner.
Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher told BBC Radio Devon:
"We wanted to get a better result than that. I felt the way we played, especially early on, the way we passed the ball and the energy and quality we showed was really good.
"We got into some dangerous areas and didn't quite make the most of them again.
"Some of that was excellent defending from them and some of it was poor decision-making from us.
"It's frustrating overall because, on the balance of it, we definitely deserved something - we'll play worse than that and get a result this season, so it wasn't the way we wanted it to go."
Millwall manager Gary Rowett told BBC Radio London:
"We were diligent. We were professional. We were very, very concentrated and we made it very, very difficult for Plymouth to break us down.
"They had a lot of possession. Their manager spoke about it before the game that he needed his team to move the ball a little bit better and keep the ball and put us under pressure.
"I felt as though if we just defended 15 yards deeper, it would just give us that opportunity to transition well. We did it very well against Middlesbrough in the first game of the season and this was a similar type of game.
"We had to be patient, we had to wait, and when we needed the moment to pick them off we had the quality to do that and it's very, very pleasing."