If Ronald scores, we're on the pitch!Â
Thankfully the Swans fans didn't go through with their chant. The atmosphere was already tasty enough after the nearly eight-minute delay and the attritional, physical style of the home team. Even the normally calm and cool Vitor Matos picked up a first-half booking, though it was not clear from the stands for what.Â
If the ending was pure joy, the preceding 90 minutes was tough viewing. It was tense, tight, and a battle from kick-off. And we knew it would be. The scouts had done their homework, with arguably our player of the season so far, Stephen Welsh, dropped for the 6-foot-5 Jenson Seelt. Every inch was needed, with Millwall throwing up their 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-5 centre-back pairing of Jake Cooper and Caleb Taylor at every opportunity. We missed Welsh's composure on the ball, but Seelt more than did his job up until his injury in the 77th minute.Â
Indeed, the entire back five was excellent, highlighted by the 55 clearances, easily a season high thus far. Filip Lissah slid in to save a certain Millwall goal early in the first-half (and he will be missed on Saturday after picking up his 5th yellow), captain Ben Cabango stood up against the barrage and won his personal duel with his opposing captain, and Josh Tymon was his usual tireless self. During the Liverpool-Man City game on Sunday, Gary Neville made the comment that Nico O'Reilly kept making surging runs into the box but from inside his winger, such runs the commentator didn't make once in all his career. Well Tymon is the Championship version, as he gives his winger the option of the overlap or inside run every time. Relentless.Â
And behind the defence, Lawrence Vigouroux was fantastic once again. Last season at The Den, he put in a performance for the ages, with countless reflex saves. This was a different type of game, one that needed him to dominate his area, be alert to every scramble, and helpfully attract fouls from his opponent. He did his job to perfection.Â
It was clear from the first long throw-in in the first minute that this would be an agricultural game. Millwall have a simple but very effective game plan. Even from the upper tier, you could see the ball rise above the roof of the Cold Blow Lane stand as their keeper Filip Marschall hoofed it forward at almost every opportunity. The centre-backs would launch long, direct balls to Lyndon Dykes, their midfield would scrap for second balls and their wingers would try to draw fouls or angle for throw-ins. Every throw-in in line with the penalty area would take a good twenty to thirty seconds, as Dykes would amble over to the touchline, seek the drier replacement ball from the ballboy, and launch it in. Add in the free-kicks from wide areas and the 13(!) corners, and it makes this clean sheet the most hard-earned of the season so far. Of the 27 touches they had in our area, you can be sure the majority of them were from throw-ins and crosses, and the resulting scrambles.Â
The first 20-25 minutes had the Swans a little rattled, and we could not keep the ball for any significant passage of play. We are second in the Championship for the most possession this season, but it felt like we could not impose our patterns until around the half-hour mark. Slowly the superior quality of Marko Staminec and his midfield partners started to control the game, and the full-backs were combining with their wingers.Â
Only one team was trying to play football in the second-half, and the delicious cross from Joseph Opoku and Ronald's opportune movement was the decisive moment of quality. It sent the fans and players into jubilation, with all the staff and subs hugging in their area, Vigouroux racing to join, and the travelling Jacks clambering on the seats and safe-standing bars to pump their limbs into the East London sky. From the angle of the big screen, many Swans fans could not see the game clock. And the added time from the fourth official's board must have gone up during the chaos of celebrating Ronald's goal. It meant many fans had no idea how long the stoppage time was or how far into it we were. The referee's whistle was at once unexpected and long overdue.Â
Last season at The Den, Taylor scored for the Lions in the 92nd minute to edge a 2-1 win. Rockin' All Over the World played out in celebration just a minute later. This time - thanks to the man who almost joined Millwall on the last day of the summer transfer window - at the end of the eight minutes of injury time, the home stands were almost deserted. Which meant the men in white could revel with their fans alone. Opoku opened the celebration, Ronald did the Siuuuu, and Matos took a couple of playful bows. After the best start to the season in 103 years, they should all take a bow.
By Rhys C. (@austrianjacks on X | @Feathersandfirepodcasts on Instagram) | Swansea Independent.
