
Tristan Crama scored Millwall's second goal against Stoke City, adding to Femi Azeez's opener at The Den
In-form Femi Azeez grabbed his third goal in as many matches as Millwall's hot streak continued with victory over Stoke City.
The win - a third in a row for Millwall - saw the impressive Lions leapfrog Stoke to move up to third in the Championship.
Stoke had leaked just six goals in 10 league games this season going into the game but the meanest defence in the division was breached twice in the opening 21 minutes.
Azeez scored the first and Tristan Crama netted the second as Millwall overran Stoke before the break to register a fifth successive victory in home matches against the Potters at The Den.
Thierno Ballo caused havoc down the left for Millwall, with the on-loan winger creating both first-half goals.
His pinpoint cross from the left in the 10th minute was met by 24-year-old Azeez, who headed home at the far post.
Eleven minutes later it was 2-0, as Crama grabbed his first goal for Millwall since joining the Lions from Brentford in January.
It was Ballo again who supplied the cross, pulling back the ball into the path of Crama after the French centre-back had flicked on a free-kick, and Crama drilled into the roof of the net.
Mark Robins' decision to make four changes backfired as Stoke were overrun in midfield.
While the Stoke manager made a triple change at half-time and the introduction of Million Manhoef briefly sparked some life into his side, Millwall held the visitors at arm's length after the break with relative ease.
The nearest Stoke came to a goal was when substitute Aaron Cresswell tested Max Crocombe at his near post but the Millwall goalkeeper was equal to it.
Millwall had good chances to extend their lead through Luke Cundle and Mihailo Ivanovic but Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson saved well, while Ben Wilmot came to the rescue for Stoke as he got a foot in to deny Casper de Norre after Ballo had put him through.
The victory - not the margin - was all that mattered, though.
The only downside for Millwall was another injury to add to their collection, with Will Smallbone pulling his hamstring in the first half.
'There's nothing not to like for us tonight' - reaction
Alex Neil on Millwall's win
Millwall boss Alex Neil told BBC Radio London:
"I thought it [the performance] was really strong. We played against a good side. They've conceded the least goals in the Championship, we scored two and could have scored more.
"I thought defensively we were really strong, I thought we carried a threat throughout the match.
"There's nothing not to like for us tonight.
"Femi has been brilliant in the last three years. He has been fundamental to our three wins in the last three games but I thought Thierno - the work that he got through, his quality in the final third - he was excellent. He was the best player on the pitch for me."
Mark Robins on Stoke's defeat
Stoke City manager Mark Robins told BBC Radio Stoke:
"We were poor. This was our first big, big test I felt and we failed it. I'm disappointed but we have to lick our wounds and get on with it.
"We conceded two really poor goals. We kept chasing our game; we couldn't find it. People would start to do things that were a bit alien to them.
"We just didn't give ourselves a chance in the game after the first 10 minutes.
"We've lost a high percentage of the duels today and they've come out on top which isn't a surprise. If they'd been better in front of goal we'd have lost by a bigger margin. It was a really, really disappointing evening.
"If we think we're a top two team, we are miles away from that and that's evidenced tonight."
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