Match ends, Birmingham City 0, Millwall 2.
BirminghamBirmingham City0MillwallMillwall2
Two well-taken Ben Thompson goals helped Millwall move away from the relegation places as they won at Birmingham City.
The midfielder stroked home his first from 15 yards after a great counter-attack and pass from Lee Gregory, before the same combination saw Thompson unmarked in the box to slot past Lee Camp.
Connor Mahoney had a goal disallowed for Birmingham early in the second half while Craig Gardner volleyed just over as Blues started brightly.
Substitutes Jacques Maghoma and Lukas Jutkiewicz both had efforts miss the target as Garry Monk's side tried to get back into the game.
Extra security measures were put in place by Birmingham following Sunday's derby loss to Aston Villa, when a fan ran on to the pitch and attacked Villa's Jack Grealish.
Between Thompson's two goals Millwall could have had another as Gary Gardner's poor backpass was intercepted by Ben Marshall, but his lob over Camp was just wide of the post.
Millwall go above Reading and Wigan into 19th place in the Championship, but remain just a point clear of the final relegation place after Rotherham won 2-1 at QPR.
Birmingham drop to 12th and have have won just one of their last seven home games - a run stretching back to 29 December.
Birmingham City manager Garry Monk:
"We're in a sticky patch. A lot of hard work has gone into the season and that needs to be cemented with a strong finish.
"I'm hugely disappointed, we were well below the levels we are capable of. After an initial bright start, it was full of errors and it proved costly.
"It was poor, too many mistakes, too many individual errors. You cannot make those mistakes and expect to come back and get a result."
Millwall boss Neil Harris told BBC Radio London:
"It was a strong performance, we came out the right side of key moments, had a couple of counters and scored well, had a couple of opportunities on goal and an offside which went our way.
"Recently they've not gone for us, but tonight was a really professional performance, looked solid and reliable.
"We picked a team to frustrate Birmingham, to shore up the gaps, and we knew that they scored a lot of goals from their front two and we thought it was important to have Ryan Tunnicliffe as a third centre-half for a bit of protection."
Line-ups
Birmingham
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Camp
- 45Harding
- 12Dean
- 28Morrison
- 3Pedersen
- 7Mahoney
- 20Gardner
- 6KieftenbeldSubstituted forGardnerat 45'minutes
- 18MrabtiSubstituted forMaghomaat 59'minutes
- 9Adams
- 11VassellBooked at 4minsSubstituted forJutkiewiczat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 8Gardner
- 10Jutkiewicz
- 19Maghoma
- 23Jota
- 25Dacres-Cogley
- 26Davis
- 27Trueman
Millwall
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 16Martin
- 12Romeo
- 15Pearce
- 5CooperBooked at 64mins
- 11Ferguson
- 28Leonard
- 7J WallaceSubstituted forHutchinsonat 90'minutes
- 18Tunnicliffe
- 8Thompson
- 44MarshallBooked at 61minsSubstituted forMeredithat 84'minutes
- 9GregorySubstituted forMorisonat 66'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Archer
- 3Meredith
- 4Hutchinson
- 6Williams
- 19Elliott
- 20Morison
- 22O'Brien
- Referee:
- John Brooks
- Attendance:
- 20,151
Match Stats
Home TeamBirminghamAway TeamMillwall
- Possession
- Home61%
- Away39%
- Shots
- Home12
- Away6
- Shots on Target
- Home1
- Away2
- Corners
- Home7
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home13
- Away12
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Birmingham City 0, Millwall 2.
Post update
Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Shane Ferguson.
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Foul by Michael Morrison (Birmingham City).
Post update
James Meredith (Millwall) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Jake Cooper.
Post update
Attempt missed. Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Connor Mahoney with a cross.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Gary Gardner with a cross.
Post update
Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Jake Cooper.
Substitution
Substitution, Millwall. Shaun Hutchinson replaces Jed Wallace.
Post update
Hand ball by Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City).
Post update
Connor Mahoney (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by James Meredith (Millwall).
Substitution
Substitution, Millwall. James Meredith replaces Ben Marshall.
Post update
Corner, Birmingham City. Conceded by Ben Marshall.
Post update
Hand ball by Che Adams (Birmingham City).
Post update
Corner, Millwall. Conceded by Kristian Pedersen.
Post update
Foul by Gary Gardner (Birmingham City).
Post update
Ben Thompson (Millwall) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
