Millwall 2-0 Queens Park Rangers: Lions Roar to Win as QPR Mauled in London Derby

Match Details

• Competition: SkyBet Championship
• Date: Saturday 18th April 2026
• Venue: The Den, London SE16
• Final Score: Millwall 2 - 0 Queens Park Rangers
• Attendance: 18,934
• Referee: Tom Nield (4th Official: James Oldham)

Match Stats & Key Metrics

	Millwall	Queens Park Rangers
Score	2	0
Half Time	2	0
Goalscorers	Mazou-Sacko 3', Neghli 17'	-
Formation	4-2-3-1	4-2-3-1
Yellow Cards	Azeez 34'	Edwards 19', Mbengue 30', Hayden 90+2'
Red Cards	-	-
Substitutions	Langstaff 70' (De Norre), Watson 70' (Ballo), Cundle 86' (Azeez), Ivanovic 86' (Coburn), Bannan 90' (Mazou-Sako)	Cook 46' (Mbengue), Madsen 46' (Varane), Hayden 46' (Morgan), Burrell 46' (Smyth), Chair 60' (Poku)
Attendance	18,934

The Story of the Match

MILLWALL roared to victory in the spring sunshine beating Queens Park Rangers 2-0 in front of 18,934 fans in the London derby at lunchtime at The Den in London SE16 with the Lions winning in style after scoring two goals in the opening seventeen minutes which blew QPR away. The loud atmosphere and very vociferous support has always been difficult for away players. The Den has been one of the more tricky venues in the country.

The result was thanks to goals from Derek Mazou-Sacko who fired home with a left footed shot to make it 1-0 in the third minute to send the Lions on their way after QPR could only half clear a corner into the penalty area. The second goal was not long coming as Camiel Neghli turned inside the QPR penalty area after taking a touch and fired home left footed to make it 2-0 in the 17th minute from an assist by the excellent Derek Mazou-Sacko.

Millwall came into the match off the back of a single win against Middlesbrough (away) 2-1, two draws against West Bromwich Albion (away) 0-0 and Ipswich Town (away) 1-1 and two defeats against Norwich City (home) 1-2 and Blackburn Rovers (home) 1-2.

Queens Park Rangers came into the London derby off the back of three wins against Watford (home) 2-1, Portsmouth (home) 6-1 and Leicester City (away) 3-1 and two draws against Preston North End (away) 0-0 and Bristol City (home) 0-0 last time out.

Millwall started the game in 3rd spot on 73 points from 42 matches and Queens Park Rangers started the game in 12th spot on 57 points from 42 matches.

Millwall had won four of their last six league matches against Queens Park Rangers (drawn one, lost one) and they were looking to complete the double over the Rs for the first time since 1988-89. Millwall had only won one of their last five SkyBet Championship matches (drawn two, lost two), after winning four in a row prior to the current run. They have lost their last two home league games, last losing three in a row back in November 2023.

Millwall's Femi Azeez had been directly involved in 15 goals in the SkyBet Championship this season (eight goals, seven assists). Six of his seven assists have been from open play, with Jed Wallace in 2019-20 (seven) the last Millwall player to make more than six open play assists in a Championship campaign.

QPR had lost their last two league matches against Millwall, last having a longer losing run against them between 1937 and 1953 which was four games during that period. QPR were unbeaten in their last five SkyBet Championship matches (won three, drawn two) and could have equalled the longest run without defeat under Julien Stephan (six between August and October 2025).

Millwall manager Alex Neil started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Anthony Patterson in goal, then a back four of Tristan Crama, Caleb Taylor, captain Jake Cooper and Zak Sturge, then two holding midfielders in Derek Mazou-Sako and Casper De Norre, then Femi Azeez, Camiel Neghli and Thierno Ballo with Josh Coburn up front.

QPR manager Julien Stephan started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Joe Walsh in goal, then a back four of Amadou Mbengue, Ronnie Edwards the captain, Jake Clarke-Salter and Rhys Norrington-Davies, then two holding midfielders in Jonathan Varane and Kieran Morgan, then three attacking midfielders in Paul Smyth, Harvey Vale and Kwame Poku with Richard Kone up top. QPR wore their changed strip of green and white stripes while Millwall were in their traditional dark blue and white.

Millwall kicked off the first half in bright South London sunshine at The Den. They forced two early corners to put the QPR defence under pressure. From the second of those, which was only partially cleared by Joe Walsh the QPR goalkeeper, the loose ball fell to Derek Mazou-Sacko and he fired home with a left footed shot to make it 1-0 in the third minute, sending the Lions on their way.

The Lions, one goal up, looked the more likely to score again as QPR were pegged back in their own half for long periods of the opening quarter of an hour. In the 14th minute a long free kick into the penalty area saw the loose ball fall to Tristan Crama, but his chip went high over the crossbar.

The second goal was not long coming as Camiel Neghli turned inside the QPR penalty area after taking a touch and fired home left footed to make it 2-0 in the 17th minute from an assist by the excellent Derek Mazou-Sacko.

In the 19th minute R's captain Ronnie Edwards was cautioned for a foul and given a yellow card by referee Tom Nield. QPR forced two corners in the 22nd and 23rd minutes but neither came to anything for the visitors.

On a fast counter attack in the 24th minute Camiel Neghli saw a right footed shot go just over the crossbar with Walsh advancing out of his penalty area. In the 25th minute Josh Coburn headed goalwards but Walsh tipped his effort over for another corner.

Both Ronnie Edwards and Jake Clarke-Salter were under pressure at set pieces with the massive Jake Cooper and Caleb Taylor up to support Josh Coburn. In the 30th minute Amadou Mbengue was yellow carded for a heavy challenge on Zak Sturge, becoming the second QPR player in the book. Femi Azeez was yellow carded in the 34th minute.

Millwall were dominant in the first half and thoroughly deserved the 2-0 half-time lead — it could have been worse for QPR had further opportunities been converted.

QPR manager Julien Stephan made four substitutions at half time with Rumarn Burrell, Isaac Hayden, Nicolas Madsen and Steve Cook replacing Amadou Mbengue, Kieran Morgan, Jonathan Varane and Paul Smyth in the 46th minute.

Despite the substitutions it was Millwall that continued to control the game and take the play to QPR. Rumarn Burrell headed wide of the target in the 53rd minute and then in the 59th minute Rhys Norrington-Davies saw a left footed cross-shot go just over the Millwall crossbar.

QPR replaced Kwame Poku with Ilias Chair in the 60th minute. QPR forced a corner in the 63rd minute, taken by Nicolas Madsen to the near post, which was headed clear by Taylor.

Chair saw a right-footed shot go narrowly wide of the left-hand post from 20 yards out in the 67th minute. QPR's free kick in the 69th minute by Harvey Vale whistled wide of the goal.

Millwall manager Alex Neil replaced Casper De Norre and Thierno Ballo with Macaulay Langstaff and Tom Watson in the 70th minute.

QPR were stronger in the second half and held their own with the substitutions but the damage was done in the opening quarter of an hour with those two early goals for the Lions. Josh Coburn and Femi Azeez were replaced by Luke Cundle and Mihailo Ivanovic in the 86th minute. Derek Mazou-Sako was replaced by Barry Bannan in the 90th minute. Isaac Hayden was yellow carded in the 90+2 minute.

Millwall went up to 2nd in the SkyBet Championship with the victory. Millwall now have both Stoke City and Leicester City away and Oxford United at home to come, meanwhile QPR end the campaign with Swansea City and Derby County at home and Ipswich Town away on the last day.

It was good to see the return of Madsen, Burrell and Chair for the Hoops from long-term injuries, but it was Millwall's day as they march on towards the Premier League.

Half Time Millwall 2 Queens Park Rangers 0 (1 minute added time)

Full Time Millwall 2 Queens Park Rangers 0 (5 minutes added time)

Timeline of Key Events

• 3' - Goal (Millwall) - Mazou-Sacko fires home left-footed after a partial clearance from a corner. 1-0.
• 14' - Chance (Millwall) - Crama's chip from a loose ball goes high over the crossbar.
• 17' - Goal (Millwall) - Neghli turns inside the area and fires home left-footed. Assist: Mazou-Sacko. 2-0.
• 19' - Yellow Card (QPR) - Edwards booked for a foul.
• 22'-23' - Corners (QPR) - Both come to nothing for the visitors.
• 24' - Chance (Millwall) - Neghli's right footed shot goes just over the bar.
• 25' - Save (QPR) - Walsh tips Coburn's header over for a corner.
• 30' - Yellow Card (QPR) - Mbengue booked for a heavy challenge on Sturge.
• 34' - Yellow Card (Millwall) - Azeez booked.
• HT - Millwall 2-0 QPR (1 minute added time).
• 46' - Substitutions (QPR) - Cook, Madsen, Hayden, Burrell replace Mbengue, Varane, Morgan, Smyth.
• 53' - Chance (QPR) - Burrell heads wide.
• 59' - Chance (QPR) - Norrington-Davies' left footed cross-shot goes just over.
• 60' - Substitution (QPR) - Chair replaces Poku.
• 63' - Corner (QPR) - Madsen's corner to near post headed clear by Taylor.
• 67' - Chance (QPR) - Chair's right footed shot from 20 yards goes narrowly wide.
• 69' - Free Kick (QPR) - Vale's free kick whistles wide.
• 70' - Substitutions (Millwall) - Langstaff and Watson replace De Norre and Ballo.
• 86' - Substitutions (Millwall) - Cundle and Ivanovic replace Azeez and Coburn.
• 90' - Substitution (Millwall) - Bannan replaces Mazou-Sako.
• 90+2' - Yellow Card (QPR) - Hayden booked.
• FT - Millwall 2-0 QPR (5 minutes added time).

Author's Standout Players

• Derek Mazou-Sacko (Millwall) - The standout player of the match. Scored the opener after three minutes and provided the assist for Neghli's second goal. His direct running and quality in the final third caused the QPR defence all manner of problems throughout. A superb individual performance on a day that belonged to the Lions.
• Camiel Neghli (Millwall) - The second goal scorer was a constant threat in behind the QPR defence. His turn and finish for the second goal was composed and clinical, and he went close on further occasions before the interval.
• Jake Cooper (Millwall) - The Lions captain was commanding at the heart of defence and a constant aerial threat at set pieces. His leadership set the tone for a dominant Millwall display.
• Joe Walsh (QPR) - Despite conceding twice, the QPR goalkeeper had little chance with either goal and made several important saves to prevent the scoreline becoming more embarrassing for the visitors.
• Ilias Chair (QPR) - The best of the QPR substitutes after coming on at the hour mark. Showed flashes of quality and went closest to pulling one back for the R's with a shot that went narrowly wide in the 67th minute.