Uncategorized

Rovers win for John Taylor!!!

|
Image for Rovers win for John Taylor!!!

An early goal to Martin Olsson was enough to see Blackburn climb further away from the drop zone, and honour the passing of Rovers fan John Taylor…..


Sam Allardyce once again decided to tinker with his starting 11. Chimbonda was dropped for Salgado, with Olsson dropping into left back. Andrews was called back into the squad, partnering Nzonzi and Emerton in the midfield. Gamst and Diouf held the flanks with Kalinic the lone man up front.

A minutes silence was observed before the match, in the memory of Rovers fan, Mr John Taylor, who tradgically passed away after an incident at the Stoke game.

Blackburn were on the attack from the front, with Nikola Kalinic chasing every lost cause. After a foul by Boateng, Gamst Pedersen dinked a nice little chip into the box, Ryan Nelsen almost picking up another goal, denied by a brilliant save by Myhill. Paul Robinson then stepped up for Rovers as Hull attacked on the counter. Hunt found Vennegoor of Hesselink (VoH from now), and his effort was saved by a diving Robinson.

Rovers took the lead on the 16th minute after some brilliant play down the left flank. Kalinic set up Gamst, who chipped over the top. Olsson had looped around his marker, taking the ball in his stride and cutting into the box. Olsson then blasted from the goal line, the ball collecting Myhill’s ankle and slotting into the back corner of the net. 1-0 Blackburn

Olsson continued to look a threat, striking a thunderous right footed volley minutes later, unfortunately straight at the keeper. He was also first to react moments later, though his header drifted wide of the goals.

The 40th minute took a turn of events, and for once, in Rovers favour. Boateng was given a straight red for leading in with his elbow in an aerial challenge against Gamst. SLightly unlucky for Boateng, but he did collect Gamst flush.

Blackburn missed a golden opportunity to go 2-0 before the break. A delightful El Hadji Diouf corner was missed by Kalinic at the near post and Nelsen at the far post…..big double miss.

Rovers took the 1-0 lead into the break, with El Hadji Diouf and Martin Olsson looking extremely dangerous

The opening exchange of the second half started of slowly. Hull had dropped into a 4-4-1 formation, whilst Rovers were just plucking away down the flanks, with great delivery from Diouf, Gamst and Olsson. Emerton and Nzonzi controlled the middle of the park well, distributing the ball out wide immediately, though neither could support Kalinic in attack in the Dunn style. As for Keith Andrews, well, he was his normal self…..

Brett Emerton really should have sealed the points with 20 minutes to go. Diouf picked the ball up in the middle of the pitch, and released Emerton out on the flank. Emerton was through one on one with the keeper, however, the normally clinical finishing of the versatile midfielder went missing, Myhill making a save.

Givet really should of scored minutes later. A neat cross by Gamst Pedersen eluded all, Givet popped up, 2 meters out with an open header. However, the header went straight into the noggin of Myhill, who deflected it onto the crossbar.


Roberts came on for Emerton and Reid came on late for Kalinic as the game fizzed out, Rovers clinching onto a 1-0 victory.

Player Ratings

Paul Robinson 6
1 Brilliant save, followed by an absolute howler. ROvers were lucky that his air swing of a corner was not tucked away by Altidore at the far post

Michel Salgado 6.5
His best game in a Rovers Jersey. Looks to have regained some of that pace, solid at the back, nothing much going forward, but a decent performance

Ryan Nelsen 7
Solid from Ryan. Good positioning, very unlucky not to pick up yet another goal from a set piece

Gael Givet 6.5
Looks more assured in central defence then at left back. A good solid squad member, decent performance

Martin Olsson 8.5
A fantastic first half. Im going to give him the goal, how they can call that an own goal is ludacris. Very dangerous, hungry, fast, skillful. Would of liked a stronger second half but cant complain

Steve Nzonzi 6.5
Our central midfield did what they had to do, distribute to our hot players. Nzonzi did that, and won some tackles

Brett Emerton 6
A much better performance from Brett. His flicks actually worked, he let go of the ball much quicker, knowing how Brett is, he would be absolutely gutted at not finishing his chance.

Keith Andrews 5
Didnt do bad, Didnt do good. Just did…..

Morten Gamst Pedersen 7.5
Just give the lad a pay as you play deal. When he is playing for a contract, he is a gun. Great delivery, good movement

El Hadji Diouf 8.5
Best performance in a blue and white jersey. An absolute joy to watch…..and he kept his mouth shut!!!

Nikola Kalinic 6.5
Worked his socks of, no luck up front, the ball just didnt fall his way

Long Throws….
We did not win one header of Pedersen’s long throws. We need some variability

Share this article

The Man for All Jobs

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *