Mo Belloumi came off the bench and opened the scoring for Hull City in Monday evening's second leg at The Den, giving Hull a 1-0 advantage and handing Millwall manager Steve Morison a fresh headache as his side chase a first ever Championship play-off final.
Belloumi, who was booked moments after his goal for delaying the restart, struck the decisive blow in a match that had already been shaped by a worrying moment for Hull when Kyle Joseph went off injured just before half-time.
Morison was blunt after the goal, arguing his defence could — and should — have closed down the chance and making the point that the passage of play left Hull's finisher with too much freedom to convert. The manager urged his side to be tighter and make it harder for their opponents, after a breakthrough he described as avoidable.
Television pundit Phil Brown said Hull's substitution and tactical tweak paid off for Alex Neil's side, while also warning that Millwall's attacking output had dwindled since they altered their approach. Brown added that Hull, buoyed by the strike, suddenly looked more confident and that Millwall would need to find energy quickly to respond.
The result at The Den followed a low‑chance first leg at the MKM Stadium on Friday that finished 0-0. That opening tie featured Millwall having a goal ruled out for offside and hitting the post, while Hull enjoyed 61.5 per cent possession, managed two shots on target and had six shots that missed the goal.
Contextually the tie cuts both ways. Millwall have been solid at home this season, winning 13 of their 23 Championship fixtures and keeping four clean sheets in their last six, while four of the last six meetings between these clubs produced one goal or fewer. Hull, meanwhile, had won only two of their previous nine matches going into the second leg, but they arrive at The Den with an unbeaten record in their last four visits and a 3-1 victory on their most recent trip in December. Hull were last at the Wembley showpiece in 2016.
The match referee was Sam Barrott. Barrott has a season profile for card activity — he has shown at least four yellow cards in 60 per cent of his top‑flight games — a statistic that framed discussions about the game's physical edge and whether officials might influence the scrap for control.
The tension in the tie is plain. Millwall's home form and recent defensive solidity suggested they could protect the clean sheet they needed after a goalless first leg, yet they conceded to a substitute and lost momentum. Conversely, Hull's recent patchy run of form makes their lead fragile; the injury to Joseph immediately before the break could limit the options manager Alex Neil can deploy as the match unfolds.
With the aggregate scoreline marginal and time running, Millwall must summon the attacking threat they showed in the first leg — when they hit the post and saw a goal disallowed — if they are to reach the only play-off final in club history that has so far eluded them. The single question left by Belloumi's strike is whether Morison can inject the urgency and invention his side lacked, or whether Hull's substitute will have provided enough momentum to carry his team back toward Wembley for the first time since 2016.
