Langstaff earns late Millwall win at Norwich

Macaulay Langstaff scored only his second Millwall goal to earn them victory at Carrow Road

Macaulay Langstaff bagged only his second Millwall goal seven minutes from time to earn the Lions their first victory over Norwich at Carrow Road since 1968.

Substitute Langstaff had only been on the pitch for three minutes when he coolly slotted home from Alfie Doughty's ball to register his second Lions goal in 37 appearances.

Millwall were worth their win because of the way they stepped up in the second half as Norwich wilted in Liam Manning's first game in charge of his boyhood club.

Norwich bossed possession early on, but they struggled to make this count against Millwall's well-organised side.

German Steven Benda was making his first appearance in six months and the Millwall goalkeeper, signed on loan from Fulham, comfortably saved Jacob Wright's free-kick.

Millwall might have snatched the lead before half-time and Vladan Kovacevic denied Camiel Neghli.

The Lions kept up the pressure and Tristan Crama crossed from the right to the back post for Neghli to control with his first touch before scoring with his second to give the visitors a 52nd-minute lead.

Josh Sargent levelled two minutes later when he showed great desire to charge down Benda's clearance and the ball rebounded off the Norwich striker and into the net, off the post.

Femi Azeez should have restored Millwall's lead, but skied the ball over from close range when he had the goal at his mercy before Langstaff's late intervention.

What was the main talking point?

Manning realised a childhood dream when the boyhood Canary became manager of his beloved Norwich City in June.

Manning had a season ticket at Carrow Road as a child and began his career at their academy before joining fierce East Anglia rivals Ipswich.

Manning made his name as a coach at MK Dons, leading them to the League One play-offs in 2022, before repeating the feat by guiding Bristol City to the Championship play-offs last season.

Although Norwich lost Borja Sainz and Jonathan Rowe in the summer for a combined £28.1million, they have backed Manning's overhaul of the Canaries and they have signed 11 players as they bid to atone for last season's disappointing campaign.

The ambitious Canaries would love to get in the play-offs and this was a setback in his first game.

Norwich were poor after a positive opening and Manning will need a 90-minute performance from his players to challenge for the top six.

Who stood out?

Josh Sargent was the focus before the game after turning down a bid worth over £18m from Wolfsburg this summer.

The Norwich skipper did not have many chances, but he still weighed in with the Canaries' leveller.

Sargent closed down Millwall goalkeeper Benda when many other players would have given up and the striker was rewarded when his clearance rebounded off him into the net.

Sargent was starved of service, but he proved with his attitude he is a handful if Norwich can hang on to him before the transfer window closes.

Crama stood out for Millwall, playing at right-back. The Frenchman sent over a sumptuous cross for Neghli to open the scoring and he showed great composure.

Crama was a productive outlet for Millwall as they showed more ambition in the second half and he provided great delivery from the right.

What's next?

Both sides are in Carabao Cup first-round action on Tuesday. Norwich travel to Watford in an all-Championship tie, kick-off 19:45 BST, and Millwall visit Newport County, kick-off 19:30 BST.

What they said

Millwall boss Alex Neil told BBC Radio London he was delighted to see "excellent" substitute Macaulay Langstaff net their late winner.

"Macca has been excellent for us in pre-season. He scored a very similar goal the other day. It was a great finish by him and I'm really pleased.

"It was a great way to start the season for us. There has been a lot of talk this week externally about our record here, I think we hadn't won since 1968, which is a hell of a long time.

"So it's really nice to get that off our back and it's really nice to get the win. I thought we deserved the win and I thought in the second half we were much improved."

"Hurt" and "frustrated" Norwich boss Liam Manning told BBC Radio Norfolk they must "accelerate" their work.

"It was a real mixed bag. I thought the first 25 minutes were really positive. We got control, we got in good areas, but then the game shifted in their favour a little bit and the second half was not what we wanted in the end.

"I'm frustrated, hurt, disappointed and annoyed that in our first game here, we couldn't send the fans home happy.

"We also need to step back and reflect on where we are. We know we have a huge amount of work to do, but we must accelerate that and own it."