Neil Harris hopes Millwall’s “heart” on his return can be the catalyst to keep them in the Sky Bet Championship after masterminding a 2-1 victory over Southampton.
Club legend Harris answered the Lions’ SOS after Joe Edwards was sacked this week to begin a fourth stint at the south-east London club.
He was rewarded with Tottenham loanee Japhet Tanganga bagging his first professional goal for the club and Zian Flemming stroking in from the penalty spot.
Harris was serenaded with chants of “Super Neil Harris” throughout and said: “Thank you to the fan-base, not just for my welcome that they gave me on the touchline but also for supporting my players like that.
“That’s what we need between now and the end of the season.
“The fans needed that performance and that result – in unison that is a great result for this club.
“Millwall teams always have to find a way, they’ve always had to find a way.
“Some of the performances were some of the best performances of the season for some individuals.
“You don’t have to be the best player in the pitch to be appreciated by the fans at the Den. You have to epitomise what a Millwall fan would do if they were on the pitch.
“That was me, I was never the best player on the pitch but I always worked harder than everyone else on it.
“That’s the message I have put in and then build a way around the ball with that. When the chips are down it is about heart, and we had that in abundance today.”
Tanganga bravely nodded in George Saville’s long floated free-kick in the fifth minute to give the Lions a shock lead.
Che Adams hit back for Saints when he glanced Stuart Armstrong’s delightful delivery into the box under the goalkeeper.
But after Jan Bednarek’s handball just before half time, Flemming sent Gavin Bazunu the wrong way to secure Millwall’s first win since New Year’s Day.
Harris said he could have praised each of his players but picked out Tanganga’s performance in both boxes for a special mention.
He said: “If he wants to be a Millwall centre-half he has to be brave at both ends of the pitch.
“I thought we defended our box superbly today and Japhet was outstanding, absolutely excellent.”
Southampton have now lost three of their last four matches to bring their club-record 25-game unbeaten run to a shuddering stop.
Angry Russell Martin, who saw his side fall five points behind second-placed Leeds, said: “We’ll be fine [in the promotion race].
“We’ve got eight weeks left of the season and still have the chance to be incredibly exciting and get rewarded but like we did before we have to stand up and be counted now.
“We will work hard to find a way through and make sure this run doesn’t last too long.
“We concede two crap goals. That’s it today.
“We had three massive chances and should score. It’s not normal to create that many big chances against a team in a low block.
“We should score but don’t. It’s nothing to do with tactics. If people want to talk about all that stuff, it’s not that. We conceded two rubbish goals.
“How we don’t deal with the free-kick, I don’t know. Maybe there is an offside, I haven’t seen it but the feeling from the analysts is that there is. It’s a floated cross and it loops into our goal.
“For the second goal, we don’t clear it twice and it ends up across our box for a penalty. That is the story of the game, nothing else – not tactics.”
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with AC Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to AC Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A, but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
Schwarz believes pressure will bring out the best in Red Bulls
New York Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz says pressure is good for players as they prepare to face rivals New York City FC in the MLS Eastern Conference semifinal.
The Red Bulls beat defending MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew 1-0 in the first of their best-of-three series before edging them 5-4 on penalties in Game 2.
They are playing in the semifinals for the first time since 2018, though it is the first time they are meeting their city rivals in the postseason in their history.
Schwarz acknowledged there was a lot riding on this game but is sure the pressure can bring out the best in his team.
"To feel the pressure as a player and head coach is good," he told reporters. "We need the pressure to bring our best performance and level.
"Without pressure, it's not possible. Now we have this historic derby on Saturday and we're very excited.
"Our main target is to win this game, but our focus is to get a result like we had against Columbus. The last three weeks have been looking at how we can create our best performance for Saturday."
Meanwhile, NYCFC had to come from behind in round one after losing their first match to FC Cincinnati but won the second at home before going through with a 6-5 penalty shootout win in the decider.
Head coach Nick Cushing is delighted to have home advantage for the semifinal tie but says he is not yet thinking about securing the same fate in the next round.
"I've learned over my tenure here as assistant coach and as head coach that the next game is the most important part," Cushing said.
"The whole focus is hosting a playoff semifinal at home. We're really proud that we've done everything to get to this opportunity, but there are many more challenges ahead, and we cannot look further than the first 10 minutes of the game, because that is our main focus.
"And then, through there, we have a game plan and half-time. We're working through this game, and that is our whole focus."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New York City FC – Alonzo Martinez
Twelve of Alonzo Martinez's 17 goals this season (regular season and playoffs) have been scored in home matches, while Santiago Rodriguez has scored 11 of his 13 goals at home.
Both players found the net in NYCFC's home win over Cincinnati in Game 2 of their first-round series.
New York Red Bulls – Emil Forsberg
Emil Forsberg became the 14th different Red Bulls player to record a goal and an assist in a single playoff match in Game 2 of New York's first-round series against Columbus Crew.
No player has more than one such game in the team's postseason history.
MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK CITY FC WIN
This will be the first playoff meeting between New York City FC and the Red Bulls, but the fifth in knockout rounds in all competitions.
The Red Bulls eliminated NYCFC in each of the previous four knockout round meetings, doing so in the US Open Cup three times and the Leagues Cup once.
NYCFC has won five of their eight all-time home playoff matches, including the last three in a row. All three teams that defeated NYCFC on the road in the playoffs went on to reach the MLS Cup Final (Toronto FC in 2016 & 2019, Atlanta United in 2018).
The Red Bulls' 1-0 win at Columbus in Game 1 on October 29 ended a six-match road losing streak in postseason play for the club. The Red Bulls have won multiple road playoff games in a single season twice before, doing so in 2008 and 2017.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
New York City FC – 46.5%
Draw – 26.5%
New York Red Bulls – 27%
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