Sheffield United v Millwall: Why rival boss felt first goal should have been disallowed

Iliman Ndiaye fired Paul Heckingbottom’s side in front, after Rhian Brewster had prevented two defenders from clearing Wes Foderingham’s long punt upfield.

But Rowett felt Ndiaye, a Senegal international, was guilty of an illegal challenge on Jake Cooper before stroking the ball beyond Bartosz Bialkowski.

“To go 1-0 down,” said Rowett, “So early was really disappointing. It was a clear foul on Jake Cooper, Ndiaye gives him a little nudge.

“I spoke to David (Coote, the referee) afterwards and he told me there’s a clear directive to allow more contact. That’s fair enough but, for me, that contact has to be a fair challenge rather than impeding the defender who is trying to come out.”

Sander Berge doubled United’s lead before the break, with Oliver Norwood missing a penalty which would have stretched their advantage still further.

Insisting he wasn’t “bleating” about the final result, Rowett said: “The second goal was our undoing and they should have had a third.

“This is a tough place to come. The (United) fans get right behind their team and they’ve got good players, Sander Berge was £20m odd and has got the quality to be great in the division.”

“He’s effortless, the way he glides past people when he gets on the ball and is difficult to stop,” Rowett added, referring to the Norwegian. “We did better second-half but didn’t pose enough questions.”

MORE: https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/sheffield-united-boss-reveals-his-idea-to-cope-with-millwalls-jake-cooper-3794371