Millwall boss Gary Rowett was delighted with his side’s response to Saturday’s defeat to Swansea as they moved up to 11th in the Championship on the back of a superb defensive display in a 2-0 win at Plymouth.
Zian Flemming put Millwall ahead in the 59th minute and then teed up substitute George Saville for a second goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time to seal victory.
Rowett said: “We needed to respond from our previous game at home, which we weren’t happy about but this is what the Championship is made of.
“You have got to move on very quickly and find a way to win the next game and that’s what we’ve done.”
He said: “When I saw it was Plymouth away, I knew it would be a tough game.
“I have seen them play and seen a lot of their games at home. We saw the Norwich game and they have got a lot of quality and a lot of energy and more importantly a lot of confidence.
“You can feel the excitement and the energy of the crowd. I knew it would be a test for us today and our game plan was to sit a little deeper and see if they can break us down and entice them forward.
“I just felt that would open up some spaces on the transition.
“They are a good side and I think they will win a lot of games here.
“We were diligent and did enough to stop them breaking us down.
“You have to ride out some of those defensive moments of pressure and I felt our forward players would have the beating of their defenders if we got into those transitions spaces.
“You wait for that moment of brilliance and I think Duncan Watmore showed it, lovely touch bought it down, cuts inside and a lovely little flick pass with the outside of his boot and then Zian with a good timing of his run, splits the defence and lifts it over the keeper.
“It’s a good-quality finish. Just at that moment when you think ‘are we going to see it out?’, it’s always nice to get that second one. It doesn’t half make you feel good because you know the game is over then.”
Frustrated Argyle boss Steven Schumacher said: “Obviously we wanted to get a better result than that.
“I felt the way we played, especially early on in the game, the way we passed the ball, the energy and the quality that we showed was really good.
“We got into some dangerous areas but didn’t quite make the most of those opportunities. Some of that was excellent defending from them and some of it was poor decision making from us.
“It was frustrating overall because on the balance of it I thought we definitely deserved something from the game.
“I think we will play worse than that and get a result and as I said, it was not the way we wanted the game to go. Especially once they scored it got harder.
“I think we got in around the back of them a few times in the first half but there was a couple of opportunities where we should have been allowed to continue but the referee pulled the game back on the counter attack.
“Once they got their first goal, I thought they defended their box really well. They weren’t interested in coming out again and did what you expected a Millwall team to do.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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