Premier League: Blackburn v Sunderland full time report
Blackburn 0 Sunderland 0
A resolute Blackburn held off Sunderland at Ewood Park despite being reduced to 10 men in first half stoppage time.
Rovers skipper Chris Samba provided the main talking point of a drab first period when he wrestled Danny Welbeck to the ground on the edge of the penalty area, receiving a straight red card in the process.
Earlier, Sunderland’s Darren Bent was denied by Paul Robinson when he found himself clean through, before the striker headed wide when well placed in the second period.
Substitutes Asamoah Gyan and Bolo Zenden both came close to breaking the deadlock for the visitors, who had to be content with a fifth straight Premier League draw.
Both sides were looking to pull away from the lower reaches of the Premier League table, and there was certain spikiness to the opening stages at a soaking wet Ewood. Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole threw himself to the ground in the penalty area under no contact from Gaël Givet, before Rovers’ Brett Emerton was booked for a late lunge on Black Cats’ full back Phil Bardsley.
It was the hosts who settled the better, and Sunderland ‘keeper Simon Mignolet had to be alert to tip over a powerful Morten Gamst Pedersen free kick from out wide, before Sunderland failed to take advantage of a quick breakaway when Ahmed El Mohamady dithered on the ball.
Bent looked certain to score for the visitors shortly after when – after Givet had failed to deal with a long ball forward – he found himself one-on-one with former Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Robinson, only for the goalkeeper to save well as Bent tried to slot an effort past him.
While not producing the best football, the contest was certainly very evenly matched, and it wasn’t long before Blackburn’s El-Hadji Diouf – who was seen blowing kisses to the travelling supporters who were barracking him following six unhappy months on Wearside – swung in a cross that Nikola Kalinić headed wide.
The ever-controversial Diouf was soon involved in a spat with former team-mate Bardsley which came to nothing, but there was soon to be an altercation that was to have much more of an impact on the match.
Samba dallied on the ball when he was the Blackburn defender closest to his own goal, and after Welbeck nipped in to take the ball away from the Rovers skipper, the giant Congolese wrestled the youngster to the ground on the very edge of the area. After some consultation with his assistant, referee Lee Probert correctly produced a straight red card. Bent drove wide from the resultant free kick.
As expected now that they had a man extra, Sunderland started the second period on top, and Bent was soon heading an El Mohamady cross wide, but a familiar Blackburn threat was still apparent despite the removal of their captain and frequent targetman Samba, and only Titus Bramble’s intervention stopped Rovers profiting from a goalmouth scramble following another high ball into the box.
Sunderland substitute Gyan almost had an immediate impact when he came on, only to see Robinson just beat Bent to his through ball, before Steed Malbranque floated the rebound over the bar from distance with the ‘keeper racing back towards his goal. Gyan soon headed a cross wide.
Benjani had been brought on at the other end to occupy the Sunderland defenders, and he was soon firing over, while defender Bramble followed suit at the other end as the visitors made a final push for the points, and attempted to avoid their sixth draw in eight Premier League matches this season.
As the rain lashed down, Sunderland substitutes Gyan and Zenden were the main men looking for the winner. The pair combined for the Dutchman to see a header well saved by Robinson, before Gyan’s curler from the edge of the area was clawed away by the Blackburn ‘keeper, and Zenden later shot wide from distance.
Bent headed straight at Robinson, but the Sunderland threat petered out, leaving Rovers happier with their point due to their numerical disadvantage.
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