FOOTBALL Live

Saturday October 4, 2008 Finished Ewood Park

Logo 0 - Logo 2

Blackburn Rovers

Manchester United

  • Brown 31’
  • Rooney 63’
  1. United cruise past Blackburn

    United cruise past Blackburn

    Manchester United continue to climb the table as goals from Wes Brown and Wayne Rooney saw them to a 2-0 victory over Blackburn. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Blackburn Rovers
    • Manchester United
    • 19:24 Thanks for joining me this evening; make sure you stick with us for all the latest news.
    • 92 ALL OVER! Very, very comfortable for United; Blackburn were unable to cause the Champions any sort of problem.
    • 90 Roberts almost manages to twist and turn his way through, but Brown gets a foot in to rob the ball 20 yards out.
    • 88 Blackburn win a corner...Samba heads wide after beating his marker in the air...nothing has gone right for the home side.
    • 86 OFF THE POST! Tevez strikes a low, curling shot from the edge of the box...the ball strikes the outside of the post.
    • 84 Samba is booked for a late challenge on Tevez, diving in and catching the forward on the heel.
    • 83 United are well on the way to their third successive league win; they are hitting some decent form at the moment.
    • 82 Blackburn have a spell of possession in the United half, but when they give the ball away United are able to break with pace and in numbers.
    • 80 HOPELESS! Berbatov plays in Ronaldo inside the box...but he again drags his shot well wide of the far post as Brown came out to close the angle.
    • 79 Emerton has a shot blocked by Ferdinand, who is then fouled by Roberts as he tries to clear the resulting loose ball. Cheap, unneccessary foul from the Rovers striker.
    • 77 UNITED SUB: Rooney is replaced by Park; third and final change from United, who choose to rest Rooney - which will please watching England coach Capello.
    • 76 It has been raining constantly throughout this match, and the pitch is starting to show signs that it has reached saturation point; there are a couple of areas where water is just beginning to gather on the surface...
    • 75 United have an appeal for handball when the ball strikes the arm of Nelsen when Ronaldo flicks on a header...would have been tough on the defender.
    • 73 GOOD KEEPING! Brown denies Berbatov with his feet after coming out of his box when the United striker profits on another mistake in the Rovers defence.
    • 72 ALMOST! Rooney is played through the middle...Samba slips...Rooney tries to lift the ball over the keeper...but the ball just drops on the roof of the net.
    • 71 UNITED SUB: O'Shea comes on to replace Evra, who looks like he has picked up a bit of a knock.
    • 70 Fletcher is booked for a foul on Andrews, who was leading a break down the Rovers left.
    • 68 BLACKBURN SUB: Tugay is replaced by Keith Andrews
    • 66 UNITED SUB: Tevez comes on to replace Giggs.
    • 65 Roberts is penalised for controlling the ball with his hand inside the penalty box.
    • 64 Rooney is on the scoresheet for the third consecutive game for United; nice little run of form for the England striker.
    • 63 GOAL! SUPERB GOAL! Great break from Unite...Brown feeds Ronaldo, who out-paces his man before pulling the ball back to Rooney...who finishes with style, a first-time shot into the top corner.
    • 62 Nice move from United, although Fletcher's chip over the top of the Blackburn defence is a yard too strong for Rooney.
    • 61 Carlos Tevez is warming up on the touchline. For all United's possession in the second half, they are yet to test Brown with a shot on target.
    • 59 DRAGGED! A superb first-touch from Berbtov sees him past his man on the flank...he feeds Ronaldo, but he drags his shot from 20 yards well wide.
    • 57 BLACKBURN SUB: Young Dubliner Keith Treacy has come on to replace Pedersen, who has been ineffective this evening.
    • 56 Blackburn are really struggling to make this match any sort of contest...United look very comfortable...
    • 54 Derbyshire is played free down the right channel...players to aim for in the box...but his cross is poor.
    • 53 Ronaldo works a shooting chance after cutting in from the left...blocked by Samba, who has been excellent this evening.
    • 51 Blackburn have Robbie Fowler on the bench...only Alan Shearer has scored more Premier League goals against United than Fowler.
    • 50 van der Sar is hurred a little as Vidic passes back to him in a tight spot...he clears his lines well.
    • 49 BLACKBURN SUB: Big blow for the home side as Santa Cruz comes off injured; he is replaced by Jason Roberts.
    • 48 How will Ince get his boys to approach the second half? They looked good at the start of the match, but faded badly as time went on.
    • 47 Ronaldo is blocked off and goes down...the Blackburn man, Ooijer, tries to help him up...but Ronaldo petulantly shrugs off the attempt, instead choosing to remain on the turf, curled up in the foetal position.
    • 46 The second half is underway...
    • 45 HALF-TIME: United step up a gear after a slow start; Blackburn will feel aggreived they didn't win a foul in the lead-up to the goal.
    • 43 Some really nice football from United as the ball is worked from left to right through Ronaldo, Berbatov and Rooney...Brown fires in a cross...Rooney heads wide at the near post.
    • 42 The home crowd have gone a little flat; they sense the goal has really knocked the stuffing out of their side. It will be interesting to see what Ince comes up with in the second half.
    • 40 Pedersen's cross from the right is just a yard in front of Santa Cruz, busting a gut to get on the ball inside the box.
    • 39 Berbatov is pulling deep to get hold of the ball, allowing Rooney and Ronaldo to exploit the space behind him; United are really fluid at the moment.
    • 37 United are playing with a real swagger now they have got the goal; they are dominating possession.
    • 36 United are knocking the ball about really comfortably now, making Blackburn work hard to get possession back. It's going to be really tough for the home side
    • 34 CHANCE! Berbatov plays in Rooney with a cute little ball...Brown comes out to cut down the angle, and smothers the striker's shot.
    • 33 There is no doubt United stepped up their game over the last five minutes after a decent start from the home side.
    • 32 The keeper is claiming that he received a push in the back as he tried to come through a crowd to claim that deep cross....he may have a point...I've seen fouls given on keepers for less than that.
    • 31 GOAL! BROWN CAPITALISES ON BROWN ERROR! Seconds after his outstanding save, Brown comes for a cross he can't meet and Wes Brown heads past him at the back post! The keeper is claiming a foul...
    • 30 FLYING SAVE! Brown tips over Giggs' first-time effort after Berbatov had picked out the winger with a cut-back to the far post!
    • 29 Spell of pressure on the Blackburn goal as a couple of shots rain in...blocked by some determined defending from the home side.
    • 28 Fabio Capello is in the crowd this evening, casting an eye on some of his England players; Rooney, Ferdinand, Brown. Warnock, maybe?
    • 27 Another cross from the left...just over Berbatov and Rooney...Brown steals in at the back post, but Pedersen defends well.
    • 26 Ronaldo attacks Ooijer before laying the ball outside him for Giggs...decent cross into the middle, but Samba heads clear.
    • 25 United definitely look a little off-colour this evening; perfect chance to Blackburn to take advantage and steal a famous win...
    • 24 FIZZER! Emerton flashes a shot from distance a couple of yards wide of van der Sar's post; decent effort from the Aussie midfielder
    • 22 Berbatov isn't showing a great deal of inclination to do much running; he stands and watches as Giggs lofts a ball over the top for him to chase.
    • 20 SHOULD HAVE SCORED! Fletcher is played in on goal...but slides a left-foot shot across the keeper and wide of the far post! First real chance for United, and the midfielder should have opened the scoring.
    • 19 Samba slides in to deny Giggs after Berbatov slid a nice ball inside the full-back. Ronaldo is complaining to the referee about a perfectly acceptable tackle from Ooijer.
    • 18 Pedersen plays in Santa Cruz down the left-edge of the box...but his pull-back to the penalty spot is easily cut-out. United have been a little bit sloppy in defence so far this evening.
    • 17 Paul Ince looks happy enough on the Blackburn bench; his side have probably had the better of the opening to this match.
    • 16 GET UP! Ronaldo throws himself to the ground under a challenge from Samba; embarrassing attempt to win a free-kick from the winger.
    • 14 SAVE! Derbyshire is played in from the right...he hits it first time on the angle, across Van der Sar...who saves...and the ball is cleared from Santa Cruz, who looks to pounce on the rebound...
    • 12 Pedersen has won games for Blackburn in the past against United; he has been a bit out of favour recently with Paul Ince, so will be looking to impress again today.
    • 11 Pedersen sends a cross into the middle from the right; Santa Cruz makes a charge for it, but Vidic wins the header.
    • 10 Cruz wins his side a corner off Brown as he leads a lone counter-attack...the referee blows for a foul as the corner is curled into the middle...
    • 9 Ferdinand is getting plenty of opportunity to bring the ball out of defence...Blackburn are giving him a lot of time on the ball, and they might be made to pay...
    • 8 Cruz holds off Vidic to control a long punt forward...no-one in support to lay the ball off to.
    • 7 FLASHED ACROSS GOAL! A corner is whipped across goal...no-one clears it at the near post, and Vidic is just inches from turning the ball home from close range.
    • 6 Good atmosphere in Ewood Park for this derby; 8,000 fans have travelled from Manchester to support United in the Darwen end.
    • 5 Warnock seems to be trying to run-off his injury; he doesn't look to be too impaired at the moment,
    • 4 Cruz puts Brown under pressure on the ball, but gives away a foul in the process.
    • 3 Blackburn launch a couple of long balls up field for Santa Cruz to contest; he'll give Ferdinand and Vidic a tough time this evening, for sure.
    • 2 Nightmare start for Blackburn as Warnock goes down with an injury inside 60 seconds...
    • 1 OFF WE GO!
    • 0 The players are out, the introductions have been made...
    • 17:04 Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney. Subs: Amos, Park, Nani, Rafael Da Silva, O'Shea, Evans, Tevez.
    • 17:04 The teams are in: Blackburn: Brown, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Olsson, Emerton, Kerimoglu, Warnock, Pedersen, Derbyshire, Roque Santa Cruz. Subs: Bunn, Mokoena, Andrews, Villanueva, Fowler, Treacy, Roberts.
    • 16:59 Hi there; welcome to our coverage of Manchester United's trip to Blackburn Rovers...

  • Team Stats

    Blackburn Rovers Stats Manchester United
    38% Possession 61%
    7 Shots 19
    2 Shots on target 4
    2 Saves 2
    3 Corners 4
    8 Fouls 11
    1 Offsides 3
    2 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    25 Tackles 18
    288 Accurate passes 525
    46 Bad passes 66

  • 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
      32 Jason Brown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 1
      4 Christopher Samba 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 22 1 2
      3 Stephen Warnock 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 39 9 1
      29 Martin Olsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 5 7
      7 Brett Emerton 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 29 2 1
      2 Andre Ooijer 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 24 2 3
      6 Ryan Nelsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 5 1
      5 Kerimoglou Tugay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 3 3
      12 Morten Gamst Pedersen 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 16 4 3
      27 Matt Derbyshire 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 18 2 3
      9 Roque Santa Cruz 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 14 2 0
      15 Aaron Mokoena 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      30 Jason Roberts 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 8 3 0
      38 Mark Bunn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Keith Treacy 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 4 3 0
      23 Robbie Fowler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Carlos Villanueva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Keith Andrews 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4 0
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 17 1 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 56 1 0
      3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 43 12 2
      6 Wes Brown 1 2 1 1 1 0 0 46 1 4
      15 Nemanja Vidic 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 47 0 3
      24 Darren Fletcher 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 67 4 2
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 65 6 1
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 0 6 0 1 3 1 1 32 7 1
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 27 10 1
      10 Wayne Rooney 1 4 2 1 0 1 1 38 5 1
      9 Dimitar Berbatov 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 55 11 1
      21 Rafael Pereira da Silva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      40 Ben Amos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      32 Carlos Tevez 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 15 1 0
      13 Ji-sung Park 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 1
      23 Jonny Evans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 6 1

  • Summary

    • 80 HOPELESS! Berbatov plays in Ronaldo inside the box...but he again drags his shot well wide of the far post as Brown came out to close the angle.
    • 73 GOOD KEEPING! Brown denies Berbatov with his feet after coming out of his box when the United striker profits on another mistake in the Rovers defence.
    • 72 ALMOST! Rooney is played through the middle...Samba slips...Rooney tries to lift the ball over the keeper...but the ball just drops on the roof of the net.
    • 63 GOAL! SUPERB GOAL! Great break from Unite...Brown feeds Ronaldo, who out-paces his man before pulling the ball back to Rooney...who finishes with style, a first-time shot into the top corner.
    • 32 The keeper is claiming that he received a push in the back as he tried to come through a crowd to claim that deep cross....he may have a point...I've seen fouls given on keepers for less than that.
    • 31 GOAL! BROWN CAPITALISES ON BROWN ERROR! Seconds after his outstanding save, Brown comes for a cross he can't meet and Wes Brown heads past him at the back post! The keeper is claiming a foul...
    • 30 FLYING SAVE! Brown tips over Giggs' first-time effort after Berbatov had picked out the winger with a cut-back to the far post!
    • 20 SHOULD HAVE SCORED! Fletcher is played in on goal...but slides a left-foot shot across the keeper and wide of the far post! First real chance for United, and the midfielder should have opened the scoring.
    • 14 SAVE! Derbyshire is played in from the right...he hits it first time on the angle, across Van der Sar...who saves...and the ball is cleared from Santa Cruz, who looks to pounce on the rebound...
    • 7 FLASHED ACROSS GOAL! A corner is whipped across goal...no-one clears it at the near post, and Vidic is just inches from turning the ball home from close range.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Alan Wiley

  • Blackburn Rovers

    Manager: Paul Ince

    Captain: Ryan Nelsen

    Starting line-up

    • J. Brown
    • A. Ooijer
    • R. Nelsen
    • C. Samba
    • M. Olsson
    • B. Emerton
    • S. Warnock
    • K. Tugay Substitution Out (68′)
    • M. Pedersen Substitution Out (57′)
    • R. Santa Cruz Substitution Out (49′)
    • M. Derbyshire

    Subs

    • R. Fowler
    • J. Roberts Substitution In49′
    • K. Andrews Substitution In68′
    • A. Mokoena
    • K. Treacy Substitution In57′
    • C. Villanueva
    • M. Bunn

    Injured

    • P. Robinson
    • D. Dunn
    • V. Grella
    • S. Reid

    Suspended

    None

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    Captain: Ryan Giggs

    Starting line-up

    • E. van der Sar
    • W. Brown Goal
    • N. Vidic
    • R. Ferdinand
    • P. Evra Substitution Out (71′)
    • D. Fletcher
    • C. Ronaldo
    • R. Giggs Substitution Out (65′)
    • O. Anderson
    • D. Berbatov
    • W. Rooney Goal Substitution Out (77′)

    Subs

    • J. O'Shea Substitution In71′
    • C. Tevez Substitution In65′
    • J. Park Substitution In77′
    • .. Nani
    • J. Evans
    • R. Da Silva
    • B. Amos

    Injured

    • P. Scholes
    • O. Hargreaves
    • M. Carrick
    • R. Possebon

    Suspended

    None