BBC Sport - Football - Blackburn 2-1 Wigan (original) (raw)

Morten-Gamst Pedersen

Morten Gamst-Pedersen (r) is congratulated by team-mate El-Hadji Diouf after putting Blackburn ahead

Second-half goals from Morten Gamst Pedersen and Jason Roberts propelled Blackburn clear of the bottom three at the expense of local rivals Wigan.

Pedersen sparked a previously soporific match into life with a swirling free-kick from an improbable position wide on the right touchline.

Substitute Jason Roberts then doubled Rovers' lead with a close-range effort.

Charles N'Zogbia pulled one back with a precise free-kick, but it was a case of too little, too late for Wigan.

After playing well but finishing empty-handed against Chelsea last weekend, and with away fixtures at Newcastle and Tottenham to follow, it was a crucial three points for Rovers boss Sam Allardyce and his team.

Allardyce relieved after 'fantastic' win

Blackburn began the afternoon third from bottom, having previously won only twice in the league all season, but their reward for a performance low on flair but typically high on endeavour was a derby victory which hauled them up to 15th.

Allardyce, who has been frustrated by a perceived disparity between his side's performances and points return in recent weeks, had urged his players to reproduce the same level they showed against Chelsea.

They failed to live up to that rallying cry, but at least succeeded in putting the torpor of a desperately poor opening half behind them.

In a tightly-bunched division, one team's arrested decline is another's descent into crisis, and so it was with Wigan, who dropped to 18th, the same position vacated by their hosts.

The Latics have now won only once in eight games, although they can take at least some consolation from the fact that they likewise improved after the break.

Manager Roberto Martinez described last weekend's dismal defeat at Fulham as Wigan's worst performance of the season, which was saying something given that they started the season by conceding 10 times in two games.

Martinez demanded a response from his players, but for 45 minutes of footballing ennui, neither team was able to impose any authority on the proceedings.

Wigan carried the greater menace in open play, winning a succession of early free-kicks, but their hopes of an opener repeatedly foundered as a result of poor delivery.

Their most promising moment came when Hugo Rodallega tested goalkeeper Paul Robinson from the edge of the area.

Late in the opening half, N'Zogbia combined brilliantly with Rodallega before bundling an effort beyond Robinson, but to his evident displeasure the Frenchman was penalised for a foul on Pedersen in the build-up.

Blackburn, meanwhile, true to a formula that has served their manager well down the years, were chiefly reliant on set-pieces.

Pedersen's delivery was hard to fault, but Rovers' wayward finishing spoke volumes about their previously meagre return of less than a goal a game.

Goal was chalked off wrongly - Martinez

Christopher Samba headed over from one of Pedersen's long throws, Brett Emerton lashed over from the edge of the area, and neither Mame Biram Diouf or Gael Givet were able to connect with a well-flighted free-kick to the far post.

Blackburn were not helped by the first-half withdrawal of Benjani, who scored the opener against Chelsea last week, with a hamstring injury. Yet the generall malaise was such that both teams needed to focus on improving collectively, rather than fretting over absent friends.

Thankfully, the game received a much-needed fillip immediately after the break in the shape of chances at either end.

Pedersen, belatedly taking matters into his own hands, saw a flying header athletically saved by Ali Al Habsi in the Wigan goal, and moments later Robinson, not to be outdone, denied Mohamed Diame with a fine one-handed save.

With the hour mark approaching, Maynor Figueroa fouled Emerton out on the right touchline, in a position parallel with the 18-yard box.

With a serene flash of his right boot, Pedersen sent the resulting free-kick spinning over Al Habsi, whose positioning is likely to come under scrutiny, and into the far corner.

Nine minutes later, Blackburn made it two when Roberts turned home an Emerton centre from just outside the six-yard box.

Perhaps stung by a sense of injustice - there was more than a hint of offside about Roberts' effort - Wigan swiftly struck back. Jordi Gomez won a free-kick just outside the area for a foul by Phil Jones, and N'Zogbia curled in a brilliant effort off the diving Robinson's left-hand post.

It looked as though N'Zogbia had thrown Wigan a lifeline, albeit one aided and abetted by a Rovers wall that obligingly parted to allow the winger's effort through.

But the home side held firm, and should have added to their tally through substitute David Dunn, who - in an unwelcome reminder of both teams' earlier shortcomings - skewed a chance horribly wide with the goal at his mercy.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce:

"The relief is fantastic, certainly from my point of view.

"We saw an edgy performance, due to the position we found ourselves in today.

"We were subdued in possession, edgy, but we were solid defensively and two players delivered outstanding bits of football for the goals."

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez:

"I don't know what was wrong with N'Zogbia's goal.

"Football is a game of contact and certainly when you come to Ewood Park there's a physical side to the game.

"I know the referee has got a very difficult job but that decision really cost us.

"It was a low point for us and it was mentally hard to recover from that.

"In the second half we started well, but two quick goals out of nothing leaves you feeling a little bit hard done by."

Live text and stats

Saturday, 6 November 2010

Premier League

Home Team Score Away Team Time
Blackburn 2-1 Wigan FT
(HT 0-0)
Pedersen 58 Roberts 67 N'Zogbia 74

BLACKBURN

WIGAN

Possession

Attempts on target

Attempts off target

Corners

Fouls

Live text and data provided by The Press Association.