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Saturday April 18, 2009 Finished Britannia Stadium

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Stoke City

  • Lawrence 75’

Blackburn Rovers

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  1. Stoke record vital win

    Stoke record vital win

    Liam Lawrence struck late on to earn Stoke City a vital 1-0 win at home to fellow Premier League strugglers Blackburn Rovers. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Stoke City
    • Blackburn Rovers
    • 90' It's all over. Lawrence wins all three points for Stoke - and that really should be good enough to keep them in the Premier League for another season. No such comfort for Blackburn though. Another defeat sees them slip deeper into the relegation mire. Thanks for joining us. Coming up next it's Chelsea-Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final.
    • 90' Lawrence dribbles the ball well into the Rovers half on the right to waste some more time.
    • 90' Pedersen throws long into the Stoke box, but it's headed clear.
    • 89' Three minutes of injury time to come. Can Rovers snatch a vital point in their bid for Premier League safety?
    • 88' But Stoke hack the second corner clear.
    • 88' The corner is headed behind by Stoke again.
    • 87' But before it can be taken Stoke make another change. Sonko comes on for Etherington.
    • 86' Rovers win another corner.
    • 85' Stoke make another change, bringing on Cresswell for Beattie up front.
    • 83' Diouf flicks the ball on into the Stoke box but it goes straight through to Sorensen. Diouf is furious with his team-mates for not getting on the end of that.
    • 82' Blackburn have a corner - but Sorensen catches it easily again. The Stoke keeper has been excellent this afternoon.
    • 80' Blackburn make a last throw of the dice, brining on David Dunn. Mokoena comes off.
    • 79' Pedersen hurls in a long throw into the Stoke box. It's cleared at the second attempt.
    • 77' Pedersen is freed in loads of space on the left of the Stoke box, but he fails to pick out a team-mate with his cross.
    • 75' GOAL FOR STOKE! It's Liam Lawrence! The midfielder found himself in bags of space on the right side of the Rovers area after being picked out by a Beattie flick-on. Lawrence beat his marker and shot low towards Robinson's near post. The keeper got a hand to it, but couldn't keep it out!
    • 71' Pedersen has a long throw for Blackburn. But his looping delivery is nowhere near as dangerous as Delap's arrows, and Sorensen is able to collect easily.
    • 68' Rovers hoof a high ball into Stoke's box. Sorensen does really well to get there first and punch clear.
    • 67' So Blackburn's formation is now 4-6-0, or something like that.
    • 66' Blackburn make their first change, bringing on Villanueva for McCarthy. That now means Rovers have no recognised strikers on the pitch. Not that Sam Allardyce is being negative or anything...
    • 65' Beattie runs into Robinson as the Rovers keeper rushes off his line to clear with his feet - the ball goes loose and no foul is given, but Blackburn eventually get the ball clear in any case.
    • 64' Stoke win a corner on the right again. The cross finds Higginbotham - but he can only head wide in a carbon copy of Shawcross's effort moments beforehand.
    • 62' Nelsen concedes a corner after good work by Fuller. It's an outswinger - but Shawcross heads well wide.
    • 60' A missiled Delap throw from the right causes chaos in the Blackburn box as Robinson comes for the ball and misses. It falls for Lawrence, but the Stoke man loses possession.
    • 58' Lawrence is injured after a coming together with Ryan Nelsen. He's fit enough to keep going though.
    • 56' Delap heads inches wide! The midfielder burst into the box to get on to a deep cross from Lawrence on the right - but he headed the ball wide when he really should have scored!
    • 54' Good save by Robinson! The Rovers keeper palms over a dipping half volley fired towards the top corner by Liam Lawrence!
    • 53' Delap with a long throw-in...it comes to Whelan, who shoots high, wide and handsome.
    • 52' Now Warnock has been booked for a poor tackle.
    • 51' Fuller gets his name added to the book for a really late, high challenge on Samba.
    • 49' Stoke make the game's first change. Kelly comes on for Wilkinson at right-back.
    • 48' Stoke have a couple more long throws in the opening moments of the second period, but Blackburn clear both.
    • 46' Apparently Faye was booked at the end of the first-half for mouthing off at Diouf.
    • 46' And the visitors Blackburn kick-off.
    • - Welcome back. The sides are out for the second half.
    • 45' ...but given the quality of football on show, it's probably just as well there isn't. Howard Webb brings a dour first half to an end. Apart from Faye almost scoring an oggy and Higginbotham heading a corner wide, there's not been much to write home about. Hopefully the second half will prove more gripping. Join us in 15 minutes to find out.
    • 45' Last week Rory Delap apparently spent 10 minutes and 14 seconds during Stoke's draw with Newcastle preparing for his throw-ins, and he's been at it again today. There probably should be at least five minutes of added-on time...
    • 45' Two minutes of injury time to come...
    • 44' Delap has a long throw on the right. I've lost count of how many he's had today, but it's been a lot. It's a tricky one for the Blackburn defence to deal with at the near post. It's headed back out to Delap, who then overruns the ball into touch. Deary me.
    • 42' He's OK to carry on though.
    • 41' Wilkinson seems to have hurt his bottom, poor lamb.
    • 40' Wilkinson fouls Pedersen in the centre circle, and both men are writhing around in agony.
    • 38' Another Delap lob into the box from the right, another confident take by Paul Robinson.
    • 37' Fuller collapses in the box under a challenge from Samba. He's waving his arms around appealing for a penalty, but Howard Webb says no again. And replays show that it was a massive dive. Get up.
    • 35' Blackburn force a corner on the left. It's a dangerous one into the six-yard box from Diouf, but Stoke flick it clear.
    • 33' Fuller is a shining light for the purists out there today. Another great piece of skill buys him time to cross from the right, but Beattie air-kicks in his attempts to turn the ball goalwards.
    • 31' This is a feast of long-ball football. Delap chucks another long throw into the Rovers box, Rovers clear, Stoke work it to the other side of the pitch, win another throw, Delap takes another long throw and Robinson collects. Phew...
    • 29' Pedersen hurls in another long throw towards the Stoke box, but it's easily cleared.
    • 27' Shawcross is booked for a lunge at Diouf on the right as Blackburn attack.
    • 25' The corner falls perfectly for Higginbotham - but the big left-back heads wide when well placed to score.
    • 24' Fuller beats Samba with a great turn on the edge of the box. He crosses low - but it's cut out by a defender. Corner to Stoke.
    • 22' A nice period of possession for Stoke ends with Lawrence crossing from the right towards Beattie, who collapses in a heap under pressure from Ooijer. The big striker wants a penalty, but Howard Webb tells him to get up. Quite right, too.
    • 20' Etherington whips in a lovely corner from the left, but Blackburn clear.
    • 19' Delap hurls a long throw into the Blackburn box from the left. It's put behind for a corner.
    • 17' Blackburn are taking control of things now. McCarthy tees up Pedersen on the edge of the box with a neat backheel. The Norwegian's shot is blocked to Nelsen, who pulls a shot well wide.
    • 16' Faye almost scores an own-goal as he directs a nothing ball forward from Nelsen towards the Stoke net. Luckily the on-rushing Sorensen just manages to catch the ball in time.
    • 15' Stoke head Diouf's cross behind for a corner. Diouf wastes it though by kicking the set-piece straight into touch.
    • 14' Blackburn win a free-kick in a dangerous position 35 yards from goal on the left. Pedersen will cross this into a crowded penalty area.
    • 13' Another long throw into the Blackburn box by Delap, this time from the left, and another header clear by the away side. Allardyce has selected a big side today to deal with these throws, and so far they're coping well.
    • 11' Stoke win a throw on the right near the corner flag. Delap lines up a throw...it's a dangerous one, but together Ooijer and Samba hack the ball clear.
    • 9' As you'll see from the team sheet below, Stoke have started with the same side which drew with Newcastle last week. Blackburn, meanwhile, make changes from the side that was battered at Anfield last Saturday - Treacy, Tugay and Dunn are dropped for Pedersen, McCarthy and Diouf. Samba moves back to defence with Andrews moving back into midfield.
    • 8' Stoke get a taste of their own medicine as Pedersen wipes down the ball a la Rory Delap and lobs a long throw into the Stoke box. It bounces around the area before Pedersen picks up the ball outside the box and shoots over.
    • 7' Blackburn win a throw wide on the left near the corner flag.
    • 6' Pedersen crosses into the box, but it's headed clear by a Stoke defender.
    • 5' Blackburn win a free kick on the right about 40 yards from goal.
    • 4' Fuller finds some space down the right wing and fires in a cross for Etherington in the centre - but the midfielder just fails to make a telling touch. Lively start by the hosts.
    • 3' Blackburn head the ball out to the edge of the box, where Whelan is waiting to shoot... but his low drive deflects off Etherington for a Rovers goal kick.
    • 2' Stoke win an early throw in the Blackburn half on the left adjacent to the Rovers box. Delap will take his customary long throw-in.
    • 1' Ref Howard Webb parps on his whistle, and we're under way...
    • - It's Stoke to kick-off.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage from the Brittania Stadium - the teams are out on the pitch...
    • - Stoke City's home form has been the bedrock of an impressive season, and they have a chance to move to 39 points if they beat Sam Allardyce's Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium - officially the Premier League's noisiest ground.

  • Team Stats

    Stoke City Stats Blackburn Rovers
    48% Possession 51%
    9 Shots 7
    2 Shots on target 0
    0 Saves 0
    4 Corners 6
    11 Fouls 13
    1 Offsides 1
    3 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    10 Tackles 15
    159 Accurate passes 158
    39 Bad passes 37

  • 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
    • Stoke City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      29 Thomas Sorensen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 0
      3 Danny Higginbotham 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 21 10 0
      28 Andy Wilkinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1
      25 Abdoulaye Faye 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 15 3 3
      17 Ryan Shawcross 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 6 1 0
      24 Rory Delap 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 15 1 2
      7 Liam Lawrence 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 16 1 1
      26 Matthew Etherington 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 13 6 1
      6 Glenn Whelan 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 24 9 2
      20 James Beattie 0 1 0 2 3 1 1 13 2 0
      10 Ricardo Fuller 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 11 1 0
      27 Henri Camara 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      1 Steve Simonsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      22 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 5 0 0
      14 Danny Pugh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Richard Cresswell 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
      33 Ibrahima Sonko 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
      4 Seyi Olofinjana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Blackburn Rovers
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Paul Robinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 5 0
      3 Stephen Warnock 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 14 2 1
      21 Gaël Givet 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 19 8 1
      2 Andre Ooijer 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 15 0 4
      6 Ryan Nelsen 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 7 2 3
      4 Christopher Samba 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6 0 0
      17 Keith Andrews 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 24 3 2
      12 Morten Gamst Pedersen 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 9 6 1
      15 Aaron Mokoena 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 17 2 1
      18 El Hadji Diouf 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 20 6 0
      10 Benedict McCarthy 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 11 2 0
      38 Mark Bunn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 David Dunn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2
      29 Martin Olsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Carlos Villanueva 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
      13 Zurab Khizanishvili 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      39 Aaron Doran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      11 Vincenzo Grella 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 75' GOAL FOR STOKE! It's Liam Lawrence! The midfielder found himself in bags of space on the right side of the Rovers area after being picked out by a Beattie flick-on. Lawrence beat his marker and shot low towards Robinson's near post. The keeper got a hand to it, but couldn't keep it out!
    • 56' Delap heads inches wide! The midfielder burst into the box to get on to a deep cross from Lawrence on the right - but he headed the ball wide when he really should have scored!
    • 54' Good save by Robinson! The Rovers keeper palms over a dipping half volley fired towards the top corner by Liam Lawrence!
    • 37' Fuller collapses in the box under a challenge from Samba. He's waving his arms around appealing for a penalty, but Howard Webb says no again. And replays show that it was a massive dive. Get up.
    • 25' The corner falls perfectly for Higginbotham - but the big left-back heads wide when well placed to score.
    • 16' Faye almost scores an own-goal as he directs a nothing ball forward from Nelsen towards the Stoke net. Luckily the on-rushing Sorensen just manages to catch the ball in time.
    • - Stoke City's home form has been the bedrock of an impressive season, and they have a chance to move to 39 points if they beat Sam Allardyce's Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium - officially the Premier League's noisiest ground.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Howard Webb

  • Stoke City

    Manager: Tony Pulis

    Captain: Danny Higginbotham

    Starting line-up

    • T. Sorensen
    • A. Wilkinson Substitution Out (49′)
    • R. Shawcross Yellow Card
    • A. Diagne-Faye Yellow Card
    • D. Higginbotham
    • L. Lawrence Goal
    • G. Whelan
    • R. Delap
    • M. Etherington Substitution Out (87′)
    • J. Beattie Substitution Out (85′)
    • R. Fuller Yellow Card

    Subs

    • S. Simonsen
    • R. Cresswell Substitution In85′
    • I. Sonko Substitution In87′
    • D. Pugh
    • S. Kelly Substitution In49′
    • H. Camara
    • S. Olofinjana

    Injured

    • S. Diao
    • A. Faye
    • M. Sidibe

    Suspended

    None

  • Blackburn Rovers

    Manager: Sam Allardyce

    Captain: Ryan Nelsen

    Starting line-up

    • P. Robinson
    • A. Ooijer
    • C. Samba
    • R. Nelsen
    • G. Givet
    • A. Mokoena Substitution Out (80′)
    • E. Diouf
    • K. Andrews
    • S. Warnock Yellow Card
    • M. Pedersen
    • B. McCarthy Substitution Out (66′)

    Subs

    • D. Dunn Substitution In80′
    • V. Grella
    • Z. Khizanishvili
    • C. Villanueva Substitution In66′
    • M. Olsson
    • M. Bunn
    • D. Aaron

    Injured

    • R. Santa Cruz
    • B. Emerton
    • S. Reid

    Suspended

    None

Comment 28 - 47 of 47

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  1. Lawrence of Stokies thrashes Rovers, nice job!

    From obliss, on Sun 19 Apr 12:40PM

  2. I always used to like Big Sam, but not since he took a­ swipe at Rafa and got his girlfriend Alexandra Ferguson­ to hold his hand and cry like little girls. What a pair­ of woosies! Go Rafa!

    From Enough!, on Sun 19 Apr 1:30AM

  3. you are not a good manager any way you need the sack­ and you team we beat you 4 0 last week

    From Jason, on Sat 18 Apr 7:19PM

  4. Ha Ha you muppet Sam. Even if Rafa was giving a gesture­ that signaled 'game over' last week, he was­ right, it was game over for Blackburn but not 2-0 it­ was 4-0 and game over. What a @#$% team managed by a­ @#$% manager. The cheek of Fergie to rant about how­ great Sam is? Has he forgot the BBC investigation into­ money paid to agents during Sams time at Bolton.......

    From Michael, on Sat 18 Apr 6:41PM

  5. Let's see all those who wrote the POTTERS off at­ the start of the season EAT CLAY ! ! !

    From DRIAG-CYMRU, on Sat 18 Apr 6:22PM

  6. haha tactical genius allardyce, should have kept his­ big mouth shut, that'll teach him to take­ instructions from a wino. I like Blackburn but not­ their one dimensional bully manager. Ra ra ra Rafa­ Benitez YNWA

    From ned n, on Sat 18 Apr 6:14PM

  7. and thats why big sam should be concentrating on his­ tatics and not something that he thinks he saw last­ week at anfield!tough luck.

    From jvrad71, on Sat 18 Apr 5:10PM

  8. im a blackburn fan but i say well done stoke

    From edward805, on Sat 18 Apr 4:58PM

  9. Take that you fat B****** Allardye. Relegation for youe­ ale house team!

    From Viva Espana, on Sat 18 Apr 4:57PM

  10. Come on Stoke, I like Big Sam and I think they will be­ safe as Hull are going back where they belong. I hope­ Chelsea Stuff the Gooners

    From BRY, on Sat 18 Apr 4:52PM

  11. Well done Sam

    We now need two goals in 20 mins with no­ strikers on the pitch.

    I know, lets stick Samba up­ front on his own and hoof long ball up to him for the­ rest of the game.

    The mans a tactical genius!

    From Russell E, on Sat 18 Apr 4:46PM

  12. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    From edward805, on Sat 18 Apr 4:43PM

  13. Wtf did the commentator go to the bathroom or­ something? Stoke just scored and he hasn't said­ anything!! In fact, nothing for the past 10 mins!!

    From rishi.dayal, on Sat 18 Apr 4:39PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    blackburn should of scored all readey by now full-time­ score 0-2

    From David, on Sat 18 Apr 4:38PM

  15. Stoke just scored...

    From rishi.dayal, on Sat 18 Apr 4:38PM

  16. rovers loseing 1-0

    From Matthew, on Sat 18 Apr 4:37PM

  17. Is Big Sam having a laugh. No strikers on the pitch­ when we're desperate for 3 points. Big effing joke­ more like. Rovers Board need to get shut even if we do­ manage to stay up, which at the moment isn't­ looking likely

    From Russell E, on Sat 18 Apr 4:37PM

  18. JOKE

    From Matthew, on Sat 18 Apr 4:33PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    rovers will win 1-0...

    From nt_229, on Sat 18 Apr 4:30PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    go rovers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From William, on Sat 18 Apr 4:23PM
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