Millwall 1-0 Watford: FLW report as Neil Harris returns to The Den with a win | OneFootball

Neil Harris returned to The Den with a victory as Millwall beat Watford 1-0 in his first home game since being reappointed Lions boss.

Zian Flemming's free-kick inside four minutes proved the difference as a stubborn defensive display ensured that the Hornets, who had plenty of second half possession but looked lacking in ideas, were never able to find a response.

That's two wins on the bounce for Harris since he was drafted in as Joe Edwards' replacement. The club legend has breathed new life into Millwall's survival hopes, but results for teams around them mean they're still just a point above the drop zone.

As for Watford, five defeats in six games for Valerien Ismael's side means despite being 12th, they are only six points above the dotted line themselves.

Millwall 1-0 Watford

Harris can barely have dreamed of a better start to his homecoming as Flemming's 30-yard free-kick put his side in the ascendancy inside four minutes. The Dutchman's strike deflected off the wall but Watford goalkeeper Ben Hamer got across to his bottom corner in time and should have kept it out.

The goal was a just reward for the intensity with which Millwall had started the game, no doubt boosted by the raucous atmosphere the return of a club legend had generated ahead of kick-off, but while they showed plenty of energy, the hosts were lacking in control.

A wayward Ryan Leonard pass invited Emmanuel Dennis to weave into the Lions' box just after the 10-minute mark but a covering George Saville block ensured his strike didn't make it to Matija Sarkic's goal.

As we approached the half hour, it was Harris's side playing much of the football but they were served regular reminders of the Hornets' attacking threat. A third Hamer mistake of the half led to Duncan Watmore seeing an effort from a tight angle come back off the post with only Francisco Sierralta on the line.

Less than a minute later, Yaser Asprilla forced a sharp save out of Sarkic after a quick move in transition. The visitors have often looked to the 20-year-old Colombian to provide a spark this term and he was bright again but had shown his inexperience minutes earlier by wasting a chance - opting to go himself when an easy pass would've sent Ken Sema through.

Harris has said he wants to bring the 'Millwall-ness' back to the South London club and no player embodied that more in the first half than Saville, whose non-stop effort and industry was part of the reason the Lions reached the break with their lead intact despite Watford's raids forward becoming a regular occurrence in the final minutes of the half.

There was little in terms of quality in the half hour after the restart and Watford were beginning to strangle Millwall, with the addition of Tom Dele-Bashiru aiding their cause.

Ismael's side were still struggling to create meaningful chances, though, and were frustrated by some clever centre-back play from Jake Cooper, who was popping up in the right place at the right time and did enough to ensure Vakoun Bako put Jamal Lewis' low cross wide of the target just before the hour.

Two wasted set pieces and substitute Ismael Kone's high curling effort were emblematic of a Watford team lacking in confidence and it spoke volumes about their lack of threat in the final third that for all their possession, Jake Livermore's low effort 12 minutes before the end forced Sarkic into a first save of the half.

The introduction of top scorer Mileta Rajovic and then Brazilian forward Matheus Martins in the final 10 minutes proved not to be the answer for the Hornets as a stubborn Millwall defence held firm to secure Harris his first home win at The Den since the 17th of August 2019 - some 1,659 days ago.

The change in momentum feels hugely significant but wins for a host of other teams in the bottom half of the Championship means they're still just a point above the drop zone.

Concern for Watford and Ismael, meanwhile, whose run of five defeats in six means they're only six points clear of the bottom three. It remains to be seen whether that might force the trigger-happy Hornet chiefs into action.

Matija Sarkic - 7

Ryan Leonard - 6

Japhet Tanganga - 7

Jake Cooper - 7

Danny McNamara - 6 (Joe Bryan (92) - 6)

George Honeyman - 7

Billy Mitchell - 7 (Casper De Norre (92) - 6)

George Saville - 8

Duncan Watmore - 6 (Brooke Norton-Cuffy (62) - 7)

Zian Flemming - 8

Michael Obafemi - 6 (Ryan Longman (72) - 6)

Watford player ratings

Ben Hamer - 5

Jeremy Ngakia - 6 (Ryan Andrews (67) - 6)

Francisco Seirralta - 6

Wes Hoedt - 6

Jamal Lewis - 5

Jake Livermore - 6 (Matheus Martins (86) - 6)

Edo Kayembe - 5 (Tom Dele-Bashiru (46) - 7)

Ken Sema - 6 (Ismael Kone (67) - 5)

Yaser Asprilla - 6

Emmanuel Dennis - 5

Vakoun Bayo - 5 (Mileta Rajovic (80) - 5)

Attendance

The attendance at The Den for Millwall v Watford was 17,847.

That includes 2,606 travelling Hornets fans.

Neil Harris post-match reaction

A glowing Harris was full of praise for his players after the game.

He said: "I wanted to the supporters to come and enjoy watching their team, forget me on the sideline, it was about the players. I thought we started brilliantly, as a Millwall side has to at The Den.

"I'm so pleased for Zian Flemming, I'm talking to him all the time about confidence and belief and reminding him what a good player he is. Would he have had the belief to hit that from 30 yards a month ago? Don't know but you need that sometimes. He had a bit of luck but it's because he had the confidence and belief to do it.

"I thought when Watford had spells in the game we were strong, we didn't panic. I thought defensively we were outstanding, 1v1 duels, and ultimately when you look at the chances in the game, we had the better chances."

On what it meant to him to win on his return to The Den, he added: "Individually, it's brilliant when you win a game of football because we live it every day and my family have to live it with me. I live it more than anyone this football club, what it means to me. I'm not just a manager, after 17 years of service you're a fan as well."

Ismael tried to focus on the positives despite the frustrating defeat at The Den.

He said: "Throughout the 90 minutes, we weren't intimidated from the environment, we were solid, we raised the performance from last week.

"Unluckily, due to a deflected free-kick, we were one goal down. The only thing we said was to stand the first 10/15 minutes. We knew that the most powerful energy from the game will be there, with their win last week and new manager. We were prepared for that but unfortunately, we concede a goal exactly then.

"After that, Millwall have a chance to score but we didn't have the last idea in the last third, the last passes, to get the chance to score. As I said, we were under control and focussed on ourselves. The performance for that kind of away game is good but it doesn't help at the minute because you need to win games, especially in this period of the season. When you're on a run like this, it's difficult for the confidence of the players and to play freely."

Pressed on the rumours about his future, he said: "We are doing a job to win games. All the managers all over the world, if you're not winning games then you cannot stop people talking.

"What's important is what is happening within the club but believe me, my only concern is the game today to deal with and then to prepare for the next game to try and turn things around."