Wayne Rooney’s travel woes continue as Millwall beat Plymouth

Posted Thursday, October 24, 2024 by PA

Wayne Rooney suffered another bout of travel sickness as Plymouth slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Millwall.

A first-half goal from 19-year-old Lions winger Romain Esse piled on the away-day misery for the former England captain.

Rooney’s Argyle side are now winless in all six matches on the road this season, picking up just one point and scoring only one goal, on their travels.

But their form at Home Park – 10 points from five games – is still keeping them out of the relegation zone following another blank in south London.

Rooney thought his side had got off to a dream start after just 20 seconds with referee Sam Allison awarding Plymouth a penalty for a foul on Mustapha Bundu, only to reverse the decision when he noticed an offside flag.

Millwall have had their own problems this season, not least in front of goal, having picked up just two wins from their first 10 matches.

But they grabbed the lead in the 13th minute when Esse won possession off Bali Mumba in midfield and took off towards the penalty area.

The England Under-19 wideman played a neat one-two with George Honeyman before coolly tucking the ball past Argyle goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw.

Plymouth should have equalised when skipper Joe Edwards swung in an inviting cross from the right, but Ryan Hardie’s header was straight at Lukas Jensen in the Millwall goal.

Argyle’s Callum Wright also had a shot blocked with Morgan Whittaker firing the rebound wide.

But Millwall were dominating and Honeyman was denied by a last-ditch block by Edwards, Esse dragged a shot across goal and wide and Femi Azeez’s header was saved by Grimshaw.

Azeez looked odds on to double the lead shortly after half-time when he raced on to Japhet Tanganga’s pass and rounded Grimshaw, but Plymouth defender Kornel Szucs somehow got back to block the ball on the goal-line.

Rooney, back on the touchline after serving a ban during Saturday’s 5-0 drubbing at Cardiff, made a triple substitution on the hour, bringing on Freddie Assaka, Rami Al Hajj and experienced striker Andre Gray.

But the changes had little effect, and the sarcastic chorus of “we’ve had a shot” from the away end when Darko Gyabi’s free-kick was comfortably held by Jensen summed up another gloomy outing for Rooney.