Millwall hit back to draw at home to Preston after Daniel Iversen error

An awful error from goalkeeper Daniel Iversen was costly for Preston at Millwall as they came away from The Den with a 1-1 draw.

In a clash between teams who began Saturday in the top six of the Sky Bet Championship, it was Preston who struck first when Michael Smith pounced on a mistake by Lions’ Camiel Neghli.

However, Iversen’s air kick led to Mihailo Ivanovic cancelling out the Lilywhites’ lead as they missed out on the opportunity to go second in the table ahead of the afternoon kick-offs.

Millwall had a good chance to take the lead in only the second minute when Aidomo Emakhu put Tristan Crama in behind, with the latter’s low ball finding Neghli who wastefully shot over.

A lively start at both ends then saw Preston come close themselves as Stefan Thordarson’s shot from just outside the area was pushed away by Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe.

The visitors were then gifted the lead in the 15th minute when a poor back pass by Neghli was seized on by Smith who clipped the ball beyond Crocombe with a first-time finish.

The mistake rocked the Lions for a short while but they almost drew level after a corner was cleared as far as Derek Mazou-Sacko whose shot was cleared from close to his goal line by Preston captain Ben Whiteman.

Having been presented with the opening goal, the Lilywhites returned the favour in the 36th minute when Iversen kicked fresh air from Liam Lindsay’s throw back to him, giving Ivanovic an open net to equalise into.

Millwall then almost completed the turnaround three minutes before half-time when Caleb Taylor shot wide on the turn after Jake Cooper had helped on Emakhu’s corner.

The game remained level at the break and it also remained error-strewn in the early stages of the second half with both teams guilty of making sloppy mistakes when under no real pressure.

The Lions came close to going ahead with an hour gone when Ivanovic met Crama’s cross at the near post, with Iversen sharply turning his effort behind.

Chances then came at either end, with Casper De Norre shooting narrowly wide from the edge of the area for Millwall before Smith’s effort on the turn was off-target.

Another error nearly led to Preston going back in front when Thierry Small’s shot squirmed under Crocombe, who was relieved to see the ball trickle wide rather than into his net.

And there was a further chance for the Lilywhites to snatch it in the 88th minute when substitute Lewis Dobbin cut inside before seeing his shot saved by Crocombe’s legs.