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Millwall 1-0 Watford: Camiel Neghli's stunning free-kick earns Alex Neil's Lions first home win of season

  /  autty

Millwall collected their first home win of the season after a narrow 1-0 win over Watford on Monday night.

Camiel Neghli's magnificent first-half free-kick was the difference at The Den in a game that was low on drama until the final 10 minutes.

The result sees Watford's winless run extend to four matches.

A chilly night in the capital was lit up 10 minutes in. Nampalys Mendy fouled Derek Mazou-Sacko just outside the area and Neghli nonchalantly looped the resulting free-kick over the wall, with the dip and curl he put on the ball ensuring it evaded the grasp of Egil Selvik.

The Watford goalkeeper appeared to hit his head on the framework of the goal after the ball hit the net. He was deemed fit to continue, but replaced by Nathan Baxter at the break, in line with the EFL's concussion protocol.

It should have been 2-0 less than 15 minutes later. Marc Bola's poor defensive header was seized on by Ryan Leonard, who squeezed a cross through to Josh Coburn, but the striker lifted his shot over from just outside the six-yard box.

By the 77th minute, the teams had generated a combined xG figure of just 0.18, but a raft of changes from both managers sparked it back into life.

Nestory Irankunda's snap-shot was batted away by Steven Benda, with the follow-up blazed over by Caleb Wiley, while the Millwall stopper produced an even better reaction save to keep out Luca Kjerrumgaard's shot from point-blank range.

Between those two chances, the hosts should, arguably, have been awarded a penalty when Kevin Keben, in a panic, clumsily brought down Macaulay Langstaff inside the box. But referee Josh Smith was not interested - and fortunately for Millwall, it had no bearing on the result.

The managers

Millwall's Alex Neil:

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Watford's Paulo Pezzolano:

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