[Archived] News Article -> 2011/12 Match Report: Rovers 0 Manchester City 4

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Blackburn Rovers	(0) 0 – 4 (0)	Manchester City
		Johnson 56, Balotelli 59, Nasri 73, Savic 87
Referee: P. Dowd		Attendance: 24,760

As we enter October, and before the leaves have fallen from the trees, there can no longer be any doubt that Blackburn Rovers is a club in crisis. Seven league games have brought five defeats and a meagre haul of four points. It's a record that has ensured that the players, officials and fans will travel to India firmly entrenched in the relegation zone.

On Thursday the assistant manager was mysteriously removed from his post and two days later the Ewood faithful were baying for the head of Steve Kean.

For all their faults, the Walker Trust delivered ten years of Premier League football at Ewood Park and ensured that Jack Walker's legacy was preserved. Indeed, it has been the longest run in the top flight since 1936. However, ten months of ownership under Venky's has virtually brought the club to its knees and Premier League survival looks increasingly remote with each passing defeat. While fingers are pointed in the direction of the manager with regard to blame, there is no doubt that there is increasing unrest at the stewardship of Venky's. Indeed, for a company so conscious of brand awareness it is difficult to believe that they have failed to grasp how their brand has become more than a little tarnished in recent months.

In the wake of last week's debacle at St James' Park, and in light of the resultant injuries and suspension, Steve Kean again shuffled the pack. Jason Lowe dropped to full-back to replace the injured Salgado, while David Goodwillie, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Radosav Petrovic joined David "Junior" Hoilett and Steven Nzonzi in midfield while Yakubu was again asked to plough a lone furrow up front.

Roberto Mancini, with a wealth of riches at his disposal despite the absence of Tevez, made six changes to the side which lost in Munich in midweek. The travelling fans quickly made their feelings towards their manager known as they serenaded him from the start and he duly acknowledged their support. It was in stark contrast to the feelings of the majority of home supporters towards their own manager.

From the very outset, it became apparent that Kean's plan "A" was to pack the midfield and try to stifle the creativity out of City's multi-talented team. For long periods this involved getting ten men behind the ball while looking to hit City on the break. As a result, City enjoyed the lion's share of the play throughout the first half but failed to create any really clear-cut chances. James Milner and Aleksander Kolarov both fired wide, while Mario Balotelli fluffed a decent chance when he blazed his shot over the bar. As the half drew to a close, the Rovers were surprisingly still in the game thanks largely to some excellent defending by Chris Samba and Gael Givet. The Rovers' main threat came from Hoilett with his tricky style of direct running which seemed to unsettle City. However, apart from saving a tame shot from Yakubu, Joe Hart had very little to do in the City goal.

The second half had barely begun when it became clear that Mancini had instructed his team to up the tempo. Suddenly there seemed more purpose to their play and they started to use the full width of the pitch with David Silva on the left and Adam Johnson on the right. Gaps started to appear in the Rovers defence and the half was only a few minutes old when the slightest of deflections from Samba took a Silva shot narrowly wide. Within minutes, the woodwork had come to Robinson's rescue when Balotelli cut in from the left and curled a delightful effort towards the far post. With Robinson well beaten, the Italian could only curse his misfortune as he watched the ball strike the post and rebound clear.

Unfortunately, these warnings went unheeded and on 57 minutes the deadlock was finally broken. A City corner on the left was headed clear by Pedersen, but the ball only reached the feet of Johnson on the edge of the right-hand side of the area. Goodwillie, who had been largely ineffective all afternoon, was slow to react and failed to close the City winger down. Johnson duly controlled the ball and then curled a superb effort into the top corner of the goal to Robinson's right.

Within three minutes, the visitors had increased their lead thanks to a sensational piece of finishing by Balotelli. Samir Nasri, who had come on as a first-half substitute for the injured Sergio Aguero, raced down the left and crossed towards the near post. Balotelli made a telling near-post run and managed to get in front of a somewhat static Scott Dann. In an instant the Italian had met the ball with his foot and fired City into a two-goal lead. It was a piece of pure brilliance by the normally erratic Balotelli.

The goals made plan "A" redundant, but unfortunately Kean appeared to have no plan "B" at his disposal. Mauro Formica was introduced for the lacklustre Goodwillie, but the move was akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

Heads dropped on the pitch while disenchantment grew in the stands. As City fans celebrated, the chants of "Kean Out" rang around from all parts of the ground occupied by Rovers fans.

On the pitch, the comedy of errors continued and, from a Rovers corner, City managed to score their third goal. Pedersen took a short corner to Hoilett, who in turn played the ball back to Pedersen. When the Norwegian attempted to cross, his effort was blocked by Balotelli and City broke at speed towards the Rovers goal. Nasri played in Silva, who in turn played the ball back to Nasri and the former Arsenal man's shot took a wicked deflection and ended in the back the net.

The goal proved to be the signal for more cries of "You don't know what you're doing" to be hurled at Kean and a large banner was held aloft on the Riverside that simply stated "Kean Out".

Shots from Formica and Yakubu did little to lift the gloom and it was City who stretched their lead with a fourth goal as the game drew to a close. A Kolarov shot was blocked and, from the resultant corner by Nasri, Stefan Savic, totally unmarked, rose to meet the ball and head firmly into the roof of the net.

The Rovers might well have grabbed a consolation goal in the closing seconds, but Samba was unable to make a decent connection with the ball and from almost point-blank range could only steer it wide.

The final whistle brought more cries of derision from the Ewood faithful towards the beleaguered figure of Steve Kean. While some fans stayed behind to express their dissatisfaction with the manager, many left the ground completely disillusioned with Venky's vision of a brave new world for Blackburn Rovers. The reality is that the Rovers are in a relegation battle and on the evidence of recent weeks it's questionable as to whether we have the type of player needed for such a fight.

Once again the defence looked suspect when the play began to be stretched in the second half. Samba and Givet were the pick of the defenders. Lowe had his moments, but full-back is not his favoured position and at times his lack of experience and know-how was fully exposed by the more experienced City players. Dann endured another difficult afternoon and is still to find the form which he showed at Birmingham last season. However, taking into account his long absence with injury, it's perhaps understandable why he should look a little rusty.

Hoilett was the pick of the attacking players and he also did more defensive work than in recent weeks. On the opposite flank Goodwillie, although he did a job defensively in the first half, lacked the pace to join up with the attack from deep positions. Nzonzi tried his best but was simply overrun and received very little help from Petrovic, who continues to disappoint. The Serbian international clearly needs time to adjust to English football, but at the moment the club simply don't have the resources to allow him a settling-in period. Pedersen was his usual frustrating mixture of good, bad and downright awful. However, while there is no doubt that the midfield looks more solid from a defensive point of view when he is included, sadly he is not the player he once was.

Yakubu stuck manfully to his task but with little reward and, in truth, he was given very little to work with. Formica, who replaced Goodwillie, had one decent effort saved by Hart but was largely ineffective, although by the time he was introduced the game had long gone.

With the club languishing in the relegation zone, one would have hoped that the players and coaching staff might have got down to some serious work at Brockhall. Instead the circus embarks upon a trip to India to plug the Venky's brand. It continues to beg the question as to whether Blackburn Rovers is being run as a football club or merely an arm of a global marketing machine. The Rao family have been quoted as stating that they are taking the team to India so that their Indian supporters can join in the glory of the victory over Arsenal. One wonders if they are going to join in the misery of being in the relegation zone or share the despair of losing five out of seven league games. In all honesty, does anyone really believe that people in India care one way or the other about events at Ewood Park? Sadly, one suspects that the greater concerns are those shared by the people of Blackburn, who have seen their once proud club reduced to a national laughing stock thanks to naive owners and a manager who is clearly out of his depth.

Teams

Blackburn Rovers

Paul Robinson; Jason Lowe, Chris Samba, Scott Dann, Gael Givet; David Goodwillie (Mauro Formica 61), Steven Nzonzi, Radosav Petrovic, Morten Gamst Pedersen, David "Junior" Hoilett; Yakubu
Subs not used: Mark Bunn (gk), Grant Hanley, Simon Vukcevic, Jordan Slew, Jason Roberts
Manager: Steve Kean

Manchester City

Joe Hart; Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Aleksander Kolarov; Adam Johnson (Stefan Savic 79), Yaya Toure, James Milner, David Silva; Sergio Aguero (Samir Nasri 28), Mario Balotelli (Edin Dzeko 88)
Subs not used: Costel Pantilimon (gk), Gael Clichy, Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry
Manager: Roberto Mancini

Bookings

Blackburn Rovers – Gael Givet

Manchester City – Pablo Zabaleta


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