Millwall fight back to draw with 10-man Charlton

Ra'ees Bangura-Williams came off the bench to equalise for Millwall with two minutes of normal time left

Millwall fought back to draw with 10-man Charlton and preserve an unbeaten record against their local rivals stretching back 29 years.

Sonny Carey gave the Addicks the lead with his first goal for the club as he smashed into the corner in the first half.

But Kayne Ramsay was sent off for a second yellow card with less than 20 minutes remaining and the visitors made them pay as they so often have done.

Ra'ees Bangura-Williams came off the bench to Millwall's rescue, having a goal disallowed for handball before netting the equaliser with two minutes left of normal time.

Millwall have now gone 13 matches without defeat against the Addicks, dating back to the 1995-96 season when Alan Curbishley's side did the double over their rivals.

Sonny Carey gave Charlton the lead with his first goal for the club

What the first meeting between these two sides since July 2020 lacked in goalmouth action in the early stages, it made up for in passion and intensity with the pace unrelenting.

Both sides looked dangerous in wide areas without producing any real efforts of note until Charlton winger Rob Apter tried to bend one from distance, with the ball looping up off a defender and almost dropping over Steven Benda, just clipping the bar.

The hosts' goal came from the corner that followed. Benda made a strong connection to punch away Conor Coventry's inswinger but the ball went straight to Carey, whose first touch created space to fire the ball through a sea of players into the bottom corner.

The turning point came after 74 minutes when Ramsay lunged in late on Aidomo Emakhu, having already been booked, giving referee Bobby Madley no option but to pull out the red card.

Millwall made the extra player count and thought they'd equalised when Bangura-Williams, so impressive after coming off the bench, took the ball down in the box and smashed it into the top corner with Thomas Kaminski well beaten.

But referee Madley was well placed to see the ball strike his hand first touch before the accomplished finish.

The 21-year-old was not to be denied again though as he finished off a fine Millwall move. Joe Bryan's expert pass found Luke Cundle in the middle and the midfielder's shot was parried back into the box by Kaminski, with Bangura-Williams quickest to react as he buried it into the bottom-right corner.

Neither side was able to find a winner in five added minutes, maintaining Millwall's dominance over the Addicks into almost three decades.

'We got a moment of madness' - reaction

Charlton boss Nathan Jones: "I'm proud of the performance because it took a red card for us to draw the game. We were comfortable and I didn't see us conceding today.

"Once we got the goal I just wanted to get the next one, which we couldn't do. It was going to take something – like a set-play or a moment of madness to concede and we got a moment of madness.

"When you are on a booking and you lunge in then you know you are risking something. You have to be cleverer than that. Top defenders stay on their feet and make people work for something – when they go to ground, it is a last resort or they know they can win it.

"It is a learning curve for him. He's a young boy and he has so much ability, he has been outstanding for us. That was categorically the turning point.

"We should have had six points from our last two home games but we took one. We're comfortable at the level."

Millwall boss Alex Neil:

"Half-time was probably the angriest I've been since I've been here – because we were rubbish in the first half. It was the basics we were short on.

"The sending off-helped but the turning point in our favour was when we went an extra man in the middle and took a striker off. We got a foothold in the game.

"It's a constant dilemma I've had to fight against. Last season playing a front two paid huge dividends for us. But having another midfielder out there made us look more dangerous.

"We deserved our goal. We know we can play better. If you're not playing at your best then the one thing is to make sure you don't lose.

"There is still a bit of frustration for me because we should've played better in the first half."