English Premier League - Second half review: Blackburn Rovers 0-0 versus Sunderland
After a first half which was dominated by Sunderland but defined in the end by Chris Samba’s sending off in the dying moments, the second half of the match between Steve Bruce’s Sunderland and Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers got
off with Sunderland pressurizing the Blackburn defence due to their numerical advantage.
In the 47th minute of the match, Sunderland got their first free kick of the second half which was taken by Darren Bent. However, the striker’s shot from the set piece only succeeded in finding the wall in front of him
rather than the back of Paul Robinson and Blackburn’s net.
Sunderland built on this superior start to the second period of the match and kept more possession of the ball than their opponents throughout the second half. Despite having a fair share of possession, Sunderland found it hard
to actually penetrate the Blackburn defence. Their first real chance of the second half to get their opening goal fell yet again to Bent but the striker’s header was wide of the goal yet again. Blackburn’s first attempt of the second half came in the 53rd minute
as Brett Emerton’s shot failed to trouble keeper Simon Mignolet in the Sunderland goal.
Steve Bruce’s side tried to spread the play more often in the second half as their midfielders used Steed Malbranque and Ahmed Al-Mohammadi as their outlets out wide due to their positions as wingers. Blackburn coped with these
tactics quite well as rather than getting attracted to the ball, the Rovers defended in an organized manner to contain Darren Bent and co.
Sunderland’s first substitution of the match came in the 63rdminute as Asamoah Gyan replaced Nedum Onuoha for the Black cats. Blackburn responded with a change of their own as well as David Dunn was brought on in place
of Michel Salgado at the right back position for Sam Allardyce’s team.
Sunderland’s change was more of a positive one as they took off a defender to bring on an attacker whereas Salgado’s substitution had more to do with fatigue than anything as the 35-year-old right back looked extremely leggy before
he was replaced by David Dunn. Blackburn then again made their second substitution of the night as Mwaruwari Benjani came onto relieve Niko Kalinic of his striking duties.
The changes seemed to work for the better for Blackburn as they started to see more of the ball with Dunn and Benjani in the side. In the second half of the match, it started to pour at Ewood Park and thus the game gained some
more tempo; the speed of passing for both the sides increased as the water added some skid to the surface at Blackburn’s home stadium. This worked in favour of Sunderland, who started to move the ball around much quickly than before. This increase in pace
started to trouble the Blackburn defence, who found it hard to cope with the heavy pitch.
Nonetheless, Blackburn had another glorious opportunity to get the lead in the 72nd minute of the match, as Benjani turned away from his marker to get a shot away towards the Sunderland goal but the Zimbabwean striker’s
shot lacked accuracy to trouble keeper Simon Mignolet. In the 80th minute of the match, Benjani got injured and thus he had to be substituted as Mame Biram Diouf replaced the former Manchester City player for Blackburn Rovers.
Sunderland had a brilliant chance to get their goal as Boudewijn Zenden’s header was off the mark this time for the Black Cats in the 82nd minute of the second half. Eventually, Sunderland failed to make their numerical
advantage count as the match ended with the score line of nil all as both the teams secured a single point each from the encounter. Blackburn would obviously be happier of the two teams as they held on for the draw despite being a man down in the second half
of the match.
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