Femi Azeez struck a late equaliser as Millwall earned a 1-1 Championship draw against leaders Sunderland in a match that was delayed following two medical emergencies in the crowd.
The Black Cats moved back above second-placed Sheffield United on goal difference in the table, but they came so close to going two-points clear thanks to Aaron Connolly’s first goal for the club.
The match was notable for the significantly-delayed finish due to the two medical time-outs for supporters that happened concurrently towards the end of the first 45 minutes.
Sunderland were ahead after 10 minutes when Chris Rigg’s free-kick was headed out as far as Connolly, who buried a superb controlled volley from the edge of the area to open his account for the club.
It rewarded what was a very assured start by the Black Cats and they could have had a second when Wilson Isidor could not get a firm enough contact on Luke O’Nien’s cut-back.
Millwall were struggling to clear their lines and after a corner from Rigg was not dealt with, they needed Lukas Jensen to be alert in keeping out Dan Ballard’s shot from point-blank range.
Tommy Watson, an 18-year-old making his first league start, summed up the confidence Sunderland were displaying when he beat Ryan Leonard down the left before his effort was held by Jensen.
Play was then halted after 41 minutes for stricken supporters in the Dockers Stand and Barry Kitchener Stand to receive treatment, leading to referee John Busby taking the players off the pitch.
They returned 25 minutes later for what remained of the first half, which passed without incident, with Sunderland going into the break with a narrow lead.
A sloppy backpass by Ballard almost led to this being cancelled out within two minutes of the restart as the corner that resulted, taken by Joe Bryan, was headed over by Japhet Tanganga.
Josh Coburn then had a low 25-yard drive pushed out by Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson before Eliezer Mayenda went on a good run into the Millwall area before his shot was comfortably saved by Jensen.
Millwall continued to plug away, with midfielder Casper De Norre seeing a curling shot from just outside the area saved by Patterson.
Milan Aleksic had a chance to seal the game for Sunderland late on and was just about denied by Jensen after running through on goal.
One minute later though, Millwall snatched a draw as Aidomo Emakhu went on a driving run down the left before pulling the ball across the box for fellow substitute Azeez to finish at the back post, in the third minute of second-half stoppage-time.
The managers
Millwall’s Neil Harris:
“Let’s start with the most important thing, that both supporters make a full recovery.
I want to praise not just my medical team, that I thought were immense in their reaction, but also Sunderland’s club doctor as well who went into the top tier of the home end to support one of our fans.
“We’ve all come here to watch a game of football and enjoy it and nobody should be leaving in ambulances, so to two fans of our football club, we wish them well.”
Sunderland’s Regis Le Bris:
“It was a tough game because the emergency was necessary, so for sure we want to wish the best for these people.
“I think the first half was really positive. We controlled the game, we played under pressure, our collective mindset was very good and we created many chances.
“We scored once and we probably had two or three opportunities to score a second goal.
“We know that we are away against this kind of team with a very impressive type of play because they are playing this kind of football with good accuracy, good intensity and the long balls are always in the best position.
“We won the first contacts often and after the second ball, we often were not able to keep the ball when it was possible.
“We had a big space to exploit, as was the case just before the equaliser.
“If we had scored at that time, the game was finished.”
