FOOTBALL Live

Wednesday January 2, 2008 Finished Ewood Park

1 - 0

Blackburn Rovers

  • McCarthy 58’ (pen.)

Sunderland

  1. Blackburn win penalty shootout

    Blackburn win penalty shootout

    Sunderland dropped back into the relegation zone after losing 1-0 to Blackburn at Ewood Park. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Blackburn Rovers
    • Sunderland
    • 90+3 The final whistle goes and Blackburn complete the double over Sunderland. Roy Keane will know that his side have paid for not making the most of their early dominance. Thanks for joining us, see you soon.
    • 90+2 Mokoena is fouled in a good position. Will they shoot or just run the clock down. Tugay, Pedersen and Bentley all take their turn in placing the ball. Pedersen eventually strikes it into the wall, but Rovers win a corner.
    • 90' Blackburn are running down the clock now, with McCarthy shielding the ball by the corner flag.
    • 85' Sunderland are making a go of it in these last few minutes as Blackburn same to not be interested in a second killer goal. Waghorn's shot is blocked and LEADBITTER... Over the bar!
    • 83' McCarthy gets to the byline and pulls it back... Cleared away. The ball comes back to MOKOENA.... His shot from the edge of the area is miles wide! he cheekily appeals for a corner, claiming a deflection!
    • 82' Wallace and Richardson come off for Martin Waghorn and, making a return to one of his old clubs, Andy Cole.
    • 80' The resulting corner comes out to Emerton, but his shot from distance is blocked.
    • 80' Bentley runs the ball down the right wing and slows down. Collins takes the bait and fould him, earning a yellow card in the process. Pedersen whips it in the free kick... MURPHY HITS HIS OWN SIDENETTING!
    • 78' Great run by Pedersen! He gets into the box and spins around before laying it back to Mokoena. The monmentum goes out of the move and Sunderland eventually clear their lines.
    • 76' The ball is in the crowd for a Sunderland throw. The fans won't give it back! Paul McShane jumps over the advertising hoardings to get it back, amid chants of "Who are you?", just to pile on the misery for him and his team mates.
    • 75' Pedersen is through on goal on his own... That's because he's offside!
    • 70' And now Samba goes into the book for a foul on Richardson! Friedel has to slide out to reach and long ball and almost slides out of his area with the ball in his hands!
    • 69' Dunn goes past Yorke, who tackles from behind! He's gets a second yellow card and he is off! It wasn't a malicious tackle, just careless.
    • 69' Matt Derbyshire has taken a hefty knock to his side and is staggering off in obvious pain. David Dunn will replace him.
    • 66' Swung at goal wickedly by Pedersen... Over the bar! Gordon had it in his sights all the way.
    • 65' Derbyshire brings the ball forward and Higginbotham backs off. Yorke has to tackle from behind and gets a booking. Pedersen and Bentley are standing over the ball...
    • 60' Richardson goes down in a heap after a foul from Emerton and starts mouthing off at all around him. His histrionics get Emerton booked. Richardson has been playing with a real chip on his shoulder tonight.
    • 58' HE BURIES IT!! Benni McCarthy beats Craig Gordon with the sheer power of the strike for his first goal since October!
    • 56' Blackburn come forward and win a corner. The first is cleared for another. This time Sunderland can't clear it and McCarthy's volley hits Higginbotham's arm... ANOTHER PENALTY!! McCarthy will take it...
    • 53' FRIEDEL SAVES IT!! It was a poor penalty, low and to the keeper's left, and Friedel grabbed it with two hands! Can Blackburn make them pay for their wastefulness?
    • 52' Tugay bundles over Richardson, who will take the free kick from deep in midfield. It's another unsatisfactory delivery by him, but the ball is played back in to Murphy, who is fouled by Samba... PENALTY!! Dean Whitehead to take it...
    • 51' Pedersen goes down on the edge of the area under a challenge from Whitehead... Referee waves play on!
    • 49' It's a much brighter start by Balckburn and they win their first corner. It's a good delivery but cleared, and the second ball in finds McCarthy offside.
    • 46' Enforced substitutions for both sides at half time. Roque Santa Cruz has a tight groin and so is replaced by Matt Derbyshire, while Kenwyne Jones picked up a knee knock towards the end of the half and will be replaced by Grant Leadbitter.
    • 45+2 The first half is brought to an end by Rob Styles. Sunderland may come to regret not making the most of their earlt dominance, as Blackburn finished the half the stronger side.
    • 45' Blackburn win another set piece, this time on the right wing. Pedersen will play it in... The wind takes the ball and it flies over everyone!
    • 43' Tugay is the first player to go into the book for handballing a long ball up to stop Sunderland breaking following that corner.
    • 43' Tugay goes down under the challenge of Yorke. He sends in the free kick from deep and Samba heads across goal... Cleared away before Santa Cruz can reach it!
    • 41' Whitehead is harshly ajudged to have fouled McCarthy out on the wing and Bentley takes the free kick. Headed away by Higginbotham and Sunderland break. Richardson has it again but makes the wrong choice and they lose it.
    • 38' Sunderland win their second corner. It's low and to the near post again by Richardson. It's cleared but Sunderland come again. Jones turns and SHOOTS... A fairly comfortable save or Friedel, diving down to his left to get two hands on Jones' low shot.
    • 37' Mokoena plays the ball up to Santa Cruz, who knocks it back to Emerton. The Australian slides in a through ball which McShane beats McCarthy to. That's the best bit of play by Rovers so far.
    • 35' An illustration of how windy it is at Ewood Park - Stephen Warnock sees his throw in blown back out of play!
    • 32' More good link-up play on the left between Murphy and Richardson, but it ends with an awful cross from the former Manchester United winger that balloons into the stands. Half an hour gone and Blackburn have still hardly been in this match - You would think this was the Stadium of Light.
    • 31' Another foul by Yorke, this time on McCarthy in midfield. Bentley curls it in towards SANTA CRUZ... The Paraguayan gets to it first but his attempted flick-on goes out for a goal kick.
    • 27' Samba loses possession to Richardson and he is away. The winger is waiting for others to join the attack instead of just hareing towards goal and it costs his side. Play is switched over to Whitehead, who shoots from distance and the chance is gone.
    • 25' Bentley strikes it... A good hit, but half a yard wide and the same over the bar. Gordon was there ready to parry it.
    • 24' Dwight Yorke handles the ball right in front of referee ROb Styles, who plays advantage. When they lose it, he pulls play back for a free kick in what is a good position for Blackburn, especially with this swirling wind behind them.
    • 22' Rovers are slowly geting themselves back into the match, but it's not easy when Sunderland are not giving them any time on the ball.
    • 17' Nelsen plays the ball to McCarthy, who just watches it roll towards him, allowing McShane to come in and steal it. McCarthy has been looking really out of sorts in the last few weeks.
    • 16' Roy Keane must be starting to worry that his players won't capitalise on this spell. Blackburn have hardly had the ball but they are bound to create chances sooner or later.
    • 14' Richardson lifts a ball over for Murphy to chase. He gets to the ball and swings in a great cross for JONES... He just couldn't reach it with Nelsen in his way! Good play all round by Sunderland!
    • 12' Jones latches on to Miller's flick on and turns past Nelsen with ease. He's forced out wide but gets the cross/shot off... flashed wide of the far post.
    • 10' Daryl Murphy has the time to bend an effort in on goal... Well wide of the far post but encouraging signs for Sunderland, who have dominated the early play.
    • 8' Yorke's ball in is not dealt with by Nelsen and Samba has to clear for a corner with Miller lurking. Santa Cruz clears Richardson's corner away at the near post.
    • 7' Richardson takes the ball well on the run... He tries to cross on the turn but loses his balance and ends up on his backside! Samba tidies up.
    • 6' Pedersen forces McShane to hack a long ball into the crowd. He takes the throw himself and throws it straight to Gordon!
    • 4' It's Sunderland who have had the most of the ball in the opening few minutes on this bitterly cold evening in Lancashire. Whitehead tries a cross but Friedel is there to pluck it out of the air.
    • 3' Jones is held by Samba as he tries to turn round him. The clash between those two big guys is going to be interesting!
    • 1' Former team mates Roy Keane and Mark Hughes go head-to-head as managers for the first time. A minutes applause for the late Phil O'Donnell is well observed. The match is underway!

  • Team Stats

    Blackburn Rovers Stats Sunderland
    59% Possession 41%
    11 Shots 8
    1 Shots on target 3
    2 Saves 0
    7 Corners 3
    11 Fouls 12
    2 Offsides 2
    3 Yellow cards 3
    0 Red cards 1
    23 Tackles 25
    296 Accurate passes 193
    73 Bad passes 54

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Blackburn Rovers
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Brad Friedel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 4 0
      4 Christopher Samba 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 41 2 5
      15 Aaron Mokoena 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 22 3 1
      3 Stephen Warnock 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 28 13 3
      6 Ryan Nelsen 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 39 8 2
      5 Kerimoglou Tugay 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 58 10 2
      11 David Bentley 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 10 2 2
      7 Brett Emerton 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 17 0 1
      12 Morten Gamst Pedersen 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 27 12 2
      9 Roque Santa Cruz 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4 1
      10 Benedict McCarthy 1 2 1 0 2 0 0 24 7 3
      22 Keith Treacy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 David Dunn 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 9 8 0
      13 Zurab Khizanishvili 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      32 Jason Brown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Matt Derbyshire 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 1
    • Sunderland
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Craig Gordon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2 0
      6 Paul McShane 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 14 0 1
      15 Danny Collins 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 23 12 2
      14 Danny Higginbotham 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 4 0
      19 Dwight Yorke 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 33 7 6
      10 Kieran Richardson 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 17 10 1
      12 Liam Miller 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 26 7 5
      8 Dean Whitehead 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 25 1 5
      33 Ross Wallace 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 15 2 1
      11 Daryl Murphy 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 11 7 1
      17 Kenwyne Jones 0 3 2 0 0 1 0 7 2 1
      20 Andy Cole 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      18 Grant Leadbitter 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 2
      13 Darren Ward 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      39 Martin Waghorn 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Graham Kavanagh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 69' Dunn goes past Yorke, who tackles from behind! He's gets a second yellow card and he is off! It wasn't a malicious tackle, just careless.
    • 58' HE BURIES IT!! Benni McCarthy beats Craig Gordon with the sheer power of the strike for his first goal since October!
    • 56' Blackburn come forward and win a corner. The first is cleared for another. This time Sunderland can't clear it and McCarthy's volley hits Higginbotham's arm... ANOTHER PENALTY!! McCarthy will take it...
    • 53' FRIEDEL SAVES IT!! It was a poor penalty, low and to the keeper's left, and Friedel grabbed it with two hands! Can Blackburn make them pay for their wastefulness?
    • 52' Tugay bundles over Richardson, who will take the free kick from deep in midfield. It's another unsatisfactory delivery by him, but the ball is played back in to Murphy, who is fouled by Samba... PENALTY!! Dean Whitehead to take it...
    • 38' Sunderland win their second corner. It's low and to the near post again by Richardson. It's cleared but Sunderland come again. Jones turns and SHOOTS... A fairly comfortable save or Friedel, diving down to his left to get two hands on Jones' low shot.
    • 10' Daryl Murphy has the time to bend an effort in on goal... Well wide of the far post but encouraging signs for Sunderland, who have dominated the early play.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Rob Styles

  • Blackburn Rovers

    Manager: Mark Hughes

    Captain: Ryan Nelsen

    Starting line-up

    • B. Friedel
    • B. Emerton Yellow Card
    • R. Nelsen
    • C. Samba Yellow Card
    • S. Warnock
    • D. Bentley
    • K. Tugay Yellow Card
    • A. Mokoena
    • M. Pedersen
    • R. Santa Cruz Substitution Out (45′)
    • B. McCarthy

    Subs

    • D. Dunn Substitution In69′
    • M. Derbyshire Substitution In45′ Substitution Out69′
    • Z. Khizanishvili
    • J. Brown
    • K. Treacy

    Injured

    • S. Reid

    Suspended

    None

  • Sunderland

    Manager: Roy Keane

    Captain: Dean Whitehead

    Starting line-up

    • C. Gordon
    • D. Whitehead
    • D. Higginbotham Yellow Card
    • P. McShane
    • D. Collins Yellow Card
    • L. Miller
    • D. Yorke Red Card
    • K. Richardson Substitution Out (80′)
    • R. Wallace Yellow Card Substitution Out (80′)
    • K. Jones Substitution Out (45′)
    • D. Murphy

    Subs

    • A. Cole Substitution In80′
    • D. Ward
    • G. Kavanagh
    • G. Leadbitter Substitution In45′
    • M. Waghorn Substitution In80′

    Injured

    • C. Edwards

    Suspended

    None