Dimitar Berbatov converted to send us into an early lead, but Blackburn hit back
in the first half and took a share of the spoils from the Ewood Park
encounter.
Rovers were the more purposeful in the fourth minute when
Radek Cerny - in for the injured Paul Robinson - crashed his clearance into
David Bentley before succeeding in kicking only as far as Andre Ooijer. The
Dutchman floated back in with the goalkeeper in retreat but a late punch ensured
the score stayed level. It only did so for another two minutes as good work from
Steed Malbranque resulted in the returning Jermaine Jenas prodding inside to
where the waiting Berbatov was waiting to poke home. The influential Jenas was
pulling the strings and if Berbatov had been a touch quicker off the mark it
might have been two following the midfielder's raking pass, before Malbranque
sent him striding clear only to see his strike foiled by the advancing Brad
Friedel. The first half of the first period brought a really brisk and confident
display - very far removed from the second half of last week's meeting with
Newcastle. Just before the half-hour mark though, the home side were level and
it stemmed from a Bentley shimmy leaving Pascal Chimbonda in his slipstream. The
England man then calmly passed inside for Morten Gamst Pedersen to slide past
Cerny. It was a clinically executed move. The game then stumbled towards
half-time after which Blackburn introduced the more attack-minded Brett Emerton
for Ooijer. Berbatov engineered the first action of the half when he latched
onto the loose ball following a hoof from Michael Dawson and smacked goalwards,
but Friedel was equal to the challenge. Moments later Jason Roberts worked Cerny
after being played in by Emerton before Didier Zokora set Lennon scurrying away,
the little wideman picking out Malbranque, who possibly took a touch too many
before testing Friedel down to his right. Bentley fizzed in a shot just after
the hour mark in a rare passage of play for either side that didn't break down
at the final ball. However, there was a promising one from Berbatov across the
face of goal and it took a last-ditch interception from Ryan Nelson to deny
Robbie Keane a similar opening to his own in the opening minutes. There was a
double change in the 72nd minute, Chimbonda and Malbranque making way for
Gilberto and Tom Huddlestone. The home side opted for the offensive and
introduced Benni McCarthy in place of Pedersen. Darren Bent replaced Keane for
the final 11 minutes. The home crowd were later yelling for a penalty following
a Gilberto block on Bentley - Mr Walton was having none of it. There wasn't the
greatest of intensity or urgency in the final stages in the quest for maximum
points and a draw was probably a fair reflection of the balance of play,
although Roque Santa Cruz could have snatched a maximum return in stoppage time
after bundling his way through to a contest with Cerny, which the goalkeeper
won.
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