[Archived] News Article -> 2010/11 Match Report: Rovers 1 Bolton Wanderers 0

[Parsonblue1363894574]

Blackburn Rovers	(1) 1 – 0 (0)	Bolton Wanderers
Olsson 20
Referee: Mike Dean		Attendance: 28,985

A first-half goal from Martin Olsson proved sufficient to give the Rovers their first win in three months and enabled them to take a giant stride towards Premier League survival. The final whistle brought huge sighs of relief from all around Ewood Park as players and fans celebrated this long-awaited victory. In truth, the Rovers created enough chances to have won the game with ease but, as so often has been the case this season, woeful finishing again proved to be their undoing. Fortunately, on this occasion, Bolton proved unable to make the Rovers pay for their wastefulness in front of goal.

On a sunny but blustery afternoon, pre-match nerves were not eased with the news that both David Dunn and Junior Hoilett were ruled out by injury. Steve Kean opted to bring Steven Nzonzi back into the side following his three match suspension while Benjani and Jason Roberts continued as the twin spearhead, with Niko Kalinic and Roque Santa Cruz having to settle for places on the bench. The visitors, faced with their third match in the space of seven days, made four changes from the side that lost to Fulham in midweek. Adam Bogden, David Wheater, Rodrigo and Ricardo Gardner were drafted in by Owen Coyle to replace Jussi Jaaskelainen, Fabrice Muamba, Chung-Yong Lee and Gretar Steinsson.

The Rovers, following a pre-match huddle, started brightly with Olsson being a constant threat to the Bolton backline. From his early cross, Brett Emerton was able to head the ball down for Benjani to stab the ball wide. The Rovers continued to threaten the Bolton goal and Bolton defender Paul Robinson was called into action to clear the ball off the line after an Olsson shot had beaten Bogdan.

Bolton’s only early threat came from Rodrigo, their Brazilian-born youngster who is on loan from Benfica; having sent one effort narrowly wide, he then saw another attempt strike the woodwork with the Rovers’ defence seemingly all at sea. It was, therefore, ironic that it should be from a misplaced pass by the Bolton winger that the Rovers should take the lead on 20 minutes. Having cut inside, Rodrigo tried to slip the ball through to Matt Taylor. However, the ever-alert Michel Salgado spotted the danger and nipped in to make an interception before releasing Olsson. The young Swede took the ball on before firing a left-foot shot past Bogden.

Having broken the deadlock, the Rovers continued to press forward looking to double their advantage. Once again Salgado continued to probe the Bolton defence with several beautifully weighted passes and from one of these Olsson had another effort blocked before Bogden made an excellent stop from the Swedish winger.

Prior to the match, manager Steve Kean had talked about the fatigue factor that might affect Bolton during the latter stages of the game. However, the visitors seemed strangely lethargic throughout the first half and were unable to sustain any prolonged periods of pressure on a Rovers side that, at times, looked understandably nervous considering their League position.

As the game went on, the Rovers’ nerves seemed to settle with Emerton, Nzonzi and Jermaine Jones working hard to ensure that the Rovers won most of the midfield battles. The Rovers thoroughly deserved their half-time lead and, in truth, might have felt unfortunate to lead by only the slimmest of margins.

The second half started slowly as both sides struggled to get to grips with the blustery conditions. Bolton made little headway against a resolute Rovers defence, while Jermaine Jones and Nzonzi continued to have the better of the exchanges in midfield. Jones, in particular, gave an outstanding display in the centre of the field, similar to the one he gave at the Emirates a few weeks ago. Continually breaking at speed from midfield, and using the ball intelligently to feed the wide players, he produced one of the best midfield performances seen for some time in a blue and white shirt at Ewood Park.

With the game drifting away from Bolton, Coyle made three substitutions in quick succession in an attempt to put some life into the listless Wanderers. However, it was the Rovers who continued to threaten and the lead really ought to have been doubled when Benjani somehow failed to connect to a cross from Jermaine Jones, allowing Bogden to claim the ball. That proved to be the signal for Kean to replace the former Manchester City striker with Kalinic.

Play continued to be scrappy as the conditions seemed to get the better of both teams. The Rovers suffered a major blow when Salgado was stretchered off with what looked to be a serious knee injury with about 15 minutes remaining. This necessitated a reshuffle, with Emerton moving to right-back and Mame Biram Diouf coming on to play on the right wing. A long free-kick by Paul Robinson found the head of Nzonzi, but his effort flew narrowly wide. This was becoming the story of the second half as the Rovers struggled to find that elusive second goal.

With ten minutes remaining Morten Gamst Pedersen replaced Jason Roberts, who, like Benjani, had struggled to make much impression against the Bolton defence. It was from a cross from the Norwegian international that Diouf should have doubled the lead, but, to the consternation of the Ewood faithful, he blazed the ball over the bar.

An additional five minutes did little to calm the nerves, and groans of despair could be heard around the ground when Nzonzi headed over from ten yards. Fortunately, for once, the missed chances didn’t come back to haunt the Rovers and the final whistle was greeted with rapturous celebrations both on and off the pitch.

News that Blackpool and Wigan Athletic had both been held at home meant the Rovers had not only climbed to fifteenth position but, more importantly, had opened up a three-point gap between themselves and the relegation places.

After the game, Steve Kean paid tribute to the fans for the way in which they have backed the team over the past two matches. He also praised the attitude and application of his players in keeping their nerve and grinding out such an important win.

There was also better news about Salgado’s injury, with the former Real Madrid star claiming that it was nothing that a beer couldn’t fix. If only the Rovers’ goalscoring problems could be fixed so easily!

Teams

Blackburn Rovers

Paul Robinson; Michel Salgado (Mame Biram Diouf 76), Chris Samba, Phil Jones, Gael Givet; Brett Emerton, Jermaine Jones, Steven Nzonzi, Martin Olsson; Benjani (Nikola Kalinic 64), Jason Roberts (Morten Gamst Pedersen 80)
Subs not used: Mark Bunn (gk), Grant Hanley, Ruben Rochina, Roque Santa Cruz
Manager: Steve Kean

Bolton Wanderers

Adam Bogdan; Paul Robinson, Gary Cahill, Zat Knight, David Wheater; Rodrigo Moreno (Chung-Yong Lee 60), Ricardo Gardner, Tamir Cohen, Matthew Taylor (Ivan Klasnic 66); Kevin Davies, Johan Elmander (Martin Petrov 66)
Subs not used: Jussi Jaaskelainen (gk), Fabrice Muamba, Robbie Blake, Marcos Alonso
Manager: Owen Coyle

Bookings

Blackburn Rovers – Phil Jones, Jermaine Jones
Bolton Wanderers – Kevin Davies

Join in the discussion here.

View full article