Article body analysed
Football
Norwich City
vs Millwall. Sky Bet Championship.
3: 00pm, Saturday 9th August 2025.
Carrow Road Attendance: Attendance26, 546.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Millwall at Carrow Road on Saturday; Macaulay Langstaff seals a late win for Alex Neil's Lions in their season opener. Saturday 9 August 2025 18: 27, UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Macaulay Langstaff made an instant impact from the bench as Millwall opened their Championship campaign with an excellent 2-1 win at Norwich. Introduced as an 80th-minute substitute with the game delicately poised at 1-1, Langstaff took less than three minutes to make his presence felt with a cool finish to settle a keenly contested encounter. After a cagey first half the Lions quickly took the lead after the break with a fine finish from Camiel Neghli, only for a mistake from keeper Steven Benda to gift Josh Sargent an equaliser four minutes later. Norwich, looking to make it a winning start for new boss Liam Manning, looked the more likely to take all three points after that - but it was the Lions who had the final say to make it a happy return to Norfolk for manager Alex Neil. Norwich, with five players making their competitive debuts, were quickly on the front foot at a sun-drenched Carrow Road and dominated the first half without seriously threatening an opener. New-boy Mirko Topic saw an early snap-shot deflected wide by a diving Japhet Tanganga and steered another effort just past the post on the half-hour mark while Jacob Wright's 25-yard free-kick was comfortably held by Benda. But despite putting together some decent moves Norwich struggled to create clear-cut chances against a well-drilled visiting defence.
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At the other end, keeper Vladan Kovacevic had a quiet introduction to the rigours of the Championship, although he made a decent stop to keep out Neghli's goalbound shot as the Lions finished the half strongly. Millwall were also quick out of the blocks after the break and were rewarded with the game's opening goal on 51 minutes. They worked the ball out to the right flank where Tristan Crama put in an excellent cross which found Neghli in acres of space, and the youngster took full advantage by cracking home an unstoppable rising drive. However the visitors wasted all their good work by gifting the Canaries an equaliser just four minutes later. Keeper Benda wanted too much time after receiving a routine back-pass and Sargent was in like a flash to make the block, with the ball looping over the keeper and into an unguarded net. Femi Azeez should have quickly restored Millwall's lead but fired high and wide from the edge of the six-yard box after being set up by Mihailo Ivanovic, in what was now a highly entertaining encounter. The hosts pressed for a winner but it was Millwall who got their noses back in front again with seven minutes of normal time remaining. Summer signing Alfie Doughty was the architect with a well-timed pass putting Langstaff in down the inside left channel and the man who had only been on the pitch for a couple of minutes showed admirable composure to slide the ball beneath the advancing Kovacevic. Norwich's Liam Manning: "My overall feeling is one of frustration and disappointment with the manner of the goals we conceded. "We needed to defend better in those moments, make better decisions, perform better when under pressure - and we need to own that and make sure we improve. "For the first 25 minutes I thought we did well, playing the game in their half, but we didn't create enough. "Obviously it will take time for all the new players (11 in all) to settle but I don't want to talk about that too much. It's something we need to accelerate to ensure we are ready for the challenges that lie ahead. "There's no doubt the potential is there and everyone needs to stay focused and make sure there is no hangover and we are ready for next week. " Millwall's Alex Neil: "When you consider the two sides have been playing at the same level for quite a lot of that period it's a strange one, and it was a big talking point in the lead-up to the game. "It's a long, long time since we won here so to eradicate that one from the record books was very pleasing. I know from experience how difficult it is to come to Carrow Road and get something so obviously I am delighted with the result. "The atmosphere was terrific and I thought it took us a bit of time to settle but we defended well. In the second half we scored two and could have had more. " The £250, 000 is up for grabs with Super 6, and as always it is completely free to play. Entries by 3pm Saturday.
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