Leeds United remain top after Jack Harrison’s late equaliser bags them a point at struggling Millwall

Millwall 1-1 Leeds United: Championship leaders had to wait until the 89th minute to get on level terms after Jed Wallace had put the hosts ahead

Jack Harrison celebrates after dragging Leeds level with Millwall late on (PA)

A late equaliser saw Leeds United keep their unbeaten record to stay top of the Championship, in a 1-1 draw at Millwall.

Jed Wallace’s opener was cancelled out by Jack Harrison, as the Lions picked up their first point in four games.

Record signing Ryan Leonard was handed his debut for the home side after his move from Sheffield United, while injuries gave 19-year-old Tyler Roberts his first start for Leeds, a sole striker up top.

Millwall’s set pieces were proving their biggest threat to begin with, and came closest to opening the score 16 minutes in. Leonard headed back across goal from a corner, but found Steve Morison nodded it straight to the keeper.

Tyler Roberts shoots wide as Leeds searched for an equaliser (Reuters) (REUTERS)

When teams travel to the Den, form and league position can often go out of the window if they’re not attuned to the style of play. Unbeaten and top of the table, Leeds were victims of that to begin with, hitting dead ends going forward.

But the visitors started to find their way when hitting Millwall on the break. In the closing seconds of the first half, Roberts wriggled free of chasing Lions’ defenders, but his shot deflected under Ben Amos, and was quickly cleared.

A hot topic in football over the last two weeks has been throw-in coaches, and utilising it as a set piece. No doubt, Millwall aren’t forking out big money just for that, but new signing Leonard was quick to bring that option to the table in his first game, launching balls from the touchline into the box.

It was one of his long throws which lead to the opener in the second half. As the ball flew into the Leeds area, Jake Cooper’s header flicked it on to an unmarked Jed Wallace, who fired it low back across goal, and in off the post. Neil Harris has a new tactic to hand that works.

Jed Wallace celebrates in front of the home Millwall fans (Reuters)

As Leeds were headed for their first defeat of the season, they reached quickly for chances. Full-backs Luke Ayling and Barry Douglas pushed forward to help with the attack. As the latter found space on the byline, his ball across to Ayling should’ve lead to an equaliser, stood a couple of yards out. But Ben Amos stretched himself well to turn the shot behind for a corner.

Frustrations began to build for Leeds, as Roberts failed to fire when handed chance after chance – pulling one shot wide of the far post, and directing a header straight at Amos when it just needed a flick into the corner. Marco Bielsa might have to consider his options ahead of their Tuesday night game against Preston.

Millwall continued to go forward, with one eye on the clock. The nerves began to creep, following their slip-up against 10-man Swansea prior to the international break.

Harrison gave Leeds reason to celebrate as his late equaliser secured a draw at Millwall (PA)

Tension began to show in the technical area with 10 minutes to play, an exchange between Harris and Bielsa that spilled over onto the pitch, and then the stands. The latter getting to his feet for the first time in the game.

As Leeds pumped a searching ball forward with seconds of normal time left to play, Cooper’s clearance found Manchester City-loanee Harrison, who unleashed a driving shot into the bottom corner. A superb finish from the midfielder.

Kitchen sink to hand, Millwall threw everything at their visitors in the dying minutes, and almost found the winner were it not for bodies decorating the Leeds box, blocking shots from both Leonard and Tom Elliot. The desperation showed, but couldn’t bring about the goal they needed.