Millwall 0-1 Swansea: FLW report as Joel Piroe strike leaves Lions frustrated

Joel Piroe’s 18th goal of the season was enough to earn Swansea City all three points at The Den on Tuesday night as Russell Martin’s side beat a frustrated Millwall 1-0.

The Dutchman capitalised on a poor Murray Wallace clearance to fire a first-time strike into the bottom corner less than a minute into the second half and the Lions weren’t able to find a response – with Russell Martin’s pass-heavy style frustrating them throughout.

Millwall remain four points back from the top six but with Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough all playing on Wednesday night that gap could grow to seven by the next time they play.

The opening exchanges were not short of chances with Danny Ballard heading a corner over the crossbar, Michael Obafemi squandering an excellent opportunity from a ball over the top, and Benik Afobe seeing a strike on goal blocked all inside the first five minutes.

Obafemi found the net twice against Cardiff City on the weekend but appeared to have left his shooting boots in the Welsh capital as he was unable to convert a second attempt inside the opening 10 minutes either with Bart Bialkowski palming his first time shot behind for a corner.

By the 30 minute mark, we’d seen the risks and the benefits of the possession-heavy style that Martin asks his side to play as the Swans had given the ball away in dangerous areas on a number of occasions but also pulled apart the Millwall defensive structure at times.

It began to nullify the Lions offensively as well as the half wore on – restricting them to almost no meaningful time on the ball in the 15 minutes before the break.

When a chance did finally come for the home side it was to the player everyone in blue would’ve been hoping for but Jed Wallace’s edge-of-the-box