Millwall boss Gary Rowett reveals how he exposed Bristol City’s weakness

Gary Rowett says that Millwall looked to exploit Bristol City’s vulnerabilities at set-pieces after coming away with Ashton Gate with a 2-1 victory.

The Lions profited from scoring from two uncleared free-kicks with the defence failing to clear properly on both occasions. Nigel Pearson in his post-match press conference lamented the team for their statuesque defending.

Millwall are the top scorers in the division from set pieces with now ten of their goals coming from dead-ball situations. The other seven have come with five from open play and two own goals.

As for City, they are the worst in the division when it comes to defending set-pieces. Out of the 24 goals they have shipped this season, nine of them have come from set-pieces, which is something Millwall looked to punish them from.

“I think statistically Bristol have conceded a few goals from set pieces against,” Rowett said. “They’ve also scored quite a lot. Statistically, I think we’re the strongest team at the moment in the division from scoring from set pieces.

“I don’t think necessarily we’ve done any more work. Our lads will always look at whether a team marks or whether they are zonal and where the areas are for spaces.

“I think ultimately it comes down to desire to defend it or attack it. We’ve been very good this year at attacking things and our delivery has been good. It’s not just Bristol but other teams have struggled to cope with our set pieces.”

Millwall outmuscled City’s defence when it came to attacking them but also did a job on one of the division’s top scorers. City boast the second-best attack in the league but scored their goal through an own goal after Cameron Pring’s cross had deflected in off Shaun Hutchinson.

The attack of Antoine Semenyo and Tommy Conway failed to register any real attacking moments. Semenyo did fizz wide a shot from a tight-angle and later forced a save out of George Long, but that was the only shot on target of the game.

Chris Martin and Nahki Wells were brought on to try and give the Robins a different attacking outlet but they faced the same outcome. City had attempted nine shots but ended up with just one on target.

Millwall managed to get 16 shots at Bristol City’s goal with seven of those ending up on target. It highlighted how the visitors won in all departments.

“To come here, it was quite clear what we needed to do," Rowett admitted. I know Bristol won in midweek and their tails are up. They are going to be confident in particularly the way that they won. I think other than the first seven or eight minutes in each half.

"I thought we managed the game really well. It was important. First half we settled on the ball and control certain parts of the game. We didn’t really look like we were under huge pressure. We created some very good moments we had one or two set pieces we probably should have scored from.

"Statistically to end up with 16 shots and seven on target and only have one on target against us. I’m sure Nigel will say that their accuracy in those shooting positions wasn’t what they wanted it to be. We’ve made a couple of good blocks but nevertheless, it shows we’ve had some very good moments in the game."