Brereton clicks into Rover-drive
Two goals from striker keeps Blackburn in promotion hunt
IN these times of rising Covid case numbers, football postponements and little solace being offered by England’s cricketers in the Ashes Down Under, here was an afternoon to forget about those and enjoy the re-emergence of Blackburn as a credible force.
They swept aside Birmingham City for their fifth straight win, in which time they have scored 12 and conceded none, to move up to third in the Championship, just one point behind Bournemouth in second and firmly in the mix for a return to the Premier League in their 10th season since relegation.
Surrounded by clubs boosted by parachute payments and able to keep players on bloated top-flight salaries, Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray is having to do it a different way, but on this evidence, he is doing it extremely well with an energetic mix of loanees and homegrown players.
‘Any team that carries the threat we do and is solid as we are is going to win games,’ said Mowbray. ‘I watched West Brom last night drop points so we knew we could go third today. I’m sure Rovers fans have been let down before so it’s great that we could find the performance and the result for them.’
Having shed 12 players in the summer, including last season’s top scorer Adam Armstrong to Southampton, the manager knows it has been an impressive effort to put themselves in this position.
Mowbray said: ‘For this group to be as tight as they are in and out of possession and in training every day is a great credit to them. But the biggest test is coming over the next 20-odd games.’
Bournemouth’s defeat by Middlesbrough at lunchtime and
West Brom’s draw on Friday had offered encouragement and the home side wasted little time in settling to their task.
As befitting a team in form, they scored with their first attack with little more than six minutes played.
Full-back Ryan Nyambe burst to the byline and goalkeeper Matija Sarkic dived out to stop the ball reaching Ben Brereton Diaz. Instead, his touch put into the path of John Buckley, who made no mistake from about eight yards.
Blackburn turned on the style in the second half. Joe Rothwell had already been denied by Sarkic before German Reda Khadra made the game safe.
Darragh Lenihan’s through-ball was perfect as Khadra, the 20-yearold on loan from Brighton, got there before the goalkeeper and then had the composure to take a touch before stroking it home.
Then Brereton Diaz took over, first from the penalty spot after the Chile international had been upended by Sarkic. And after substitute Dan Butterworth rattled the crossbar with a Kevin De Bruyne-style shot, Brereton Diaz headed in from a yard for his 19th of the season, while there was almost a glorious hat-trick as his chip clipped the bar.
It all made for difficult watching for Birmingham manager Lee Bowyer, who revealed afterwards that he would look to sell club captain Harlee Dean in the January transfer window.
‘Blackburn are a good team but we helped them along the way,’ he said.
‘The goals we conceded were unacceptable and we were second best all over the pitch.’