Millwall 0-0 Charlton- Match Report




Honours even for derby duo

Millwall and Charlton maintained their unbeaten runs as two of the npower Championship's in-form sides shared a hard-fought goalless draw in the south London derby at The Den.

Liam Feeney and Chris Wood both failed to hit the target with good opportunities in a first half dominated by the hosts.

Substitute Dany N'Guessan came closest to breaking the deadlock after the break with a close-range header that was cleared off the line by Chris Solly, but a resolute Addicks defence ensured the points were shared.

The result means Chris Powell's men are undefeated in six games, while the Lions extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches.

Kenny Jackett's side were unchanged from Tuesday night's 1-0 win at Wolves, while Powell made three changes to his team.

Ricardo Fuller was ruled out with a hamstring problem, meaning Rob Hulse led the line alongside Yann Kermorgant.

Dale Stephens earned a recall in place of Emmanuel Frimpong, who dropped to the bench, and Dorian Dervite replaced the suspended Michael Morrison in central defence.

In front of a sell-out crowd, the home side started brightly, with Feeney trying his luck with a driving run and shot in the opening minute.

Feeney was involved a few moments later, bursting past Daniel Seaborne and delivering a dangerous ball across goal, but the visitors were able to clear their lines.

Kermorgant then flicked the ball into the path of Hulse, whose shot was blocked by Josh Wright after 10 minutes, as both teams looked to break the deadlock in a hectic opening period.

Feeney continued to threaten on the right wing, but when his deep cross picked out Chris Taylor, the ex-Oldham man was unable to hit the target with a weak header.

Hulse's left-footed volley from a narrow angle flashed wide after 27 minutes, before Feeney spurned a great chance to give the hosts the lead.

Andy Keogh, playing with a broken toe, whipped in a great ball to the back post, but Feeney was unable to make a clean contact on the stretch, having got in front of a dozing Seaborne, as his effort bobbled just wide.

Jackett's men began to impose themselves on the game, and created another good opening a few minutes later, but Wood's weak close-range effort failed to trouble Ben Hamer in the Addicks' goal.

Six minutes before the interval, Dervite's headed clearance fell to the feet of former Charlton trainee Wright, who struck a speculative 25-yard volley that looped over the crossbar.

The Lions continued to build pressure, and Nadjim Abdou was unlucky not to give the hosts the half-time advantage after unleashing a right-footed strike which flew wide.

Neither side was able to forge a clear opening immediately after the break, as Powell's side made the game a more even contest.

The visitors' improvement forced Jackett to replace the stunted Feeney with former Addicks loanee N'Guessan midway through the second half.

The change injected life back into the home side, as Keogh forced Hamer into a fingertip save with a stinging drive on the counter-attack.

Wright's 76th-minute corner then presented N'Guessan with the best opportunity of the half, but Solly kept out the substitute's free header.

Powell introduced Bradley Wright-Phillips nine minutes from time to increase the visitors' attacking threat, but the game ended in stalemate.

Source: PA

Source: PA