Kanté and Mavropanos rescue late draw for West Ham in heated derby at Millwall
West Ham fought back from 2-0 down to secure a 2-2 draw with Millwall in a Championship derby at Millwall on 19 September 2026. The Lions led at half-time through Caleb Taylor and Camiel Neghli before Mohamadou Kanté and Konstantinos Mavropanos levelled for the visitors.
West Ham had gone into the game sitting top of the Championship and were seeking a fifth straight win in the competition, while the fixture was the clubs’ first league meeting since 2012. The opening 45 minutes were low on physical response from the visitors: Jenson Metcalfe went in hard on West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen inside 15 seconds and West Ham did not register a tackle in the first half. The home side dominated possession and chances as Millwall repeatedly threatened from long throws.
Millwall opened the scoring in the 16th minute after Lyndon Dykes’s long throw created chaos in the box; with Konstantinos Mavropanos off the pitch receiving treatment the ball eventually fell to Mark Sykes, whose close-range attempt was kept out by Mads Hermansen but Taïryk Arconte reached the loose ball and played it back for Caleb Taylor to finish at the far post. West Ham registered their first touch inside the Millwall penalty area only after 33 minutes, and Millwall went close again before first-half stoppage time when Sykes’s 30-yard drive was touched on to the crossbar by Hermansen. There was still time for Millwall to double their lead when another long Dykes throw fell to Camiel Neghli, who tucked the ball away.
Nuno Espírito Santo brought Mohamadou Kanté and Pablo Felipe on at half-time to add physicality to West Ham’s side, and Jarrod Bowen finally tested Millwall goalkeeper Filip Marschall in the 52nd minute; Marschall, on his Championship debut, spilled the deflected effort but Kanté was unable to reach the rebound. Marschall later produced a save to deny a close-range header from Pablo, but he could not keep out Kanté’s 74th-minute low drive, which found the corner to halve the deficit. Ten minutes from time West Ham drew level when Konstantinos Mavropanos headed home Manor Solomon’s cross.
West Ham pushed for a winner after levelling and appeared likeliest to find one until Mohamadou Kanté was sent off for pulling back Kyrell Lisbie as Lisbie raced through on goal; Kanté’s dismissal left the visitors with 10 men. The red card concluded a heated contest that had seen fierce physicality and managerial adjustments from both sides.
Stoke staged a separate late comeback at the Bet365 Stadium, overturning a 1-0 deficit to beat Sheffield United 2-1; Kalvin Phillips had given the Blades the lead with a 51st-minute long-range free-kick — his first league goal for five and a half years — before Jack McGlynn levelled in the 78th with a left-foot screamer and Sam Gallagher completed the turnaround with an 86th-minute volley, giving Stoke four wins in their past five Championship fixtures.
The Metropolitan Police had 400 officers deployed and established a ring of steel around part of London for the fixture, and there were no immediate reports of any trouble. Barney Ronay’s match report is scheduled to follow.