Keeper Ben Foster stars in Birmingham when beat Blackburn 2-1

Birmingham City 2
- Gardner 57,
- Gardner 71

Blackburn Rovers 1
- N'Zonzi 54

Craig Gardner struck twice as Birmingham came from behind against Blackburn Rovers to win a thrilling Premier League contest 2-1 at St Andrews.

An action packed first half finished goalless, before the real drama unfolded five minutes into the second. Nikola Zigic wrestled Christopher Samba to the ground inside the box and the referee rightly pointed to the spot.

Line-Ups:

Blackburn: Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, El-Hadji Diouf, Jones, Olsson, Pedersen, Nzonzi, Kalinic. Subs: Bunn, Jacobsen, Emerton, Hoilett, Judge, Morris, Mame Diouf.

Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Gardner, McFadden, Jerome, Zigic. Subs: Taylor, Murphy, Bowyer, O'Connor, Derbyshire, Michel, Fahey.

David Dunn and Chris Samba grab campaign with an impressive 2-1 victory over Arsenal

BLACKBURN ROVERS 2
- Dunn 43,
- Samba 68

ARSENAL 1
- van Persie 13

**Blackburn came from behind to leave Arsenal still short of the point they need to make sure of third place. Two mistakes from Lukasz Fabianski that led directly to both home goals only served as a reminder that Arsenal still need to invest in a reliable goalkeeper.

Robin van Persie’s first goal in six months put Arsenal in front after 13 minutes, the Dutch striker finishing off an old-fashioned near‑post corner routine after Bacary Sagna flicked on Samir Nasri’s cross. Conceding from any sort of set piece never puts Sam Allardyce in the happiest frame of mind, though the lead was no more than Arsenal deserved. They could have been ahead as early as the second minute had not Carlos Vela missed the target when a mistake by Gaël Givet allowed Theo Walcott to roll the ball invitingly across the face of goal.

Allardyce had been relaxed enough about this game to take in the Wigan v Hull match earlier in the afternoon, reportedly checking the relegated Tigers for possible bargains. Blackburn had nothing in particular to play for here, though Allardyce’s summer spending
plans are probably based on a mid-table finish rather than a position just above the relegation candidates. With every league place dropped counting as money lost, the Blackburn hierarchy will have been relieved to see David Dunn grab an equaliser before the interval, while the travelling Arsenal support would not have been surprised to see another goalkeeping misjudgment cost their side.

Fabianski had done reasonably well in keeping out a couple of Morten Gamst Pedersen shots from free‑kicks, but when he came for a 43rd‑minute corner and missed he left Dunn a simple tap-in once Keith Andrews had returned the ball back across the six yard line.

Arsenal’s reserve goalkeeper went some way to redeeming himself with good saves from Pedersen and then Junior Hoilett at the start of the second half as Blackburn began to exert some pressure, before Martin Olsson saw a goal disallowed for a borderline offside.

Fabianski was almost as relieved as Mikaël Silvestre when the defender’s sliced clearance nearly produced an own goal, only for his luck to run out from the subsequent corner when a woeful attempt to punch away Pedersen’s cross simply allowed Chris Samba a free header right under the crossbar.

Squads:

Blackburn Rovers: Paul Robinson, Ryan Nelsen, Christopher Samba, Gael Givet, Michel Salgado, Vincenzo Grella (David Hoillet 58), Keith Andrews, David Dunn (Phil Jones 85), Martin Olsson, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Jason Roberts.

Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski, Mikael Silvestre, Sol Campbell, Armand Traore, Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Eboue (Eduardo 78), Carlos Vela (Andrei Arshavin 67), Robin Van Persie, Theo Walcott.

Crucial goal from Tim Cahill on the injury time, send a victory Everton at Ewood Park

BLACKBURN ROVERS 2
- N'Zonzi 69,
- Roberts 81

EVERTON 3
- Arteta (pen) 4,
- Yakubu 79,
- Cahill 90

**Tim Cahill's 90th minute strike gave Everton a 3-2 win after Blackburn twice came from behind in a pulsating match at Ewood Park

Mikel Arteta's penalty put the Toffees ahead but the Spaniard could have been sent off shortly after for poking Morten Gamst Pedersen in the eye.

Rovers levelled when Steven Nzonzi smashed in from 30 yards but Everton regained the lead when substitute Yakubu nodded in with his first touch.

Jason Roberts restored parity with a 25-yard drive before Cahill tapped in Yakubu's low cross to snatch victory.

The result leaves Everton only one point behind seventh-place Aston Villa and two adrift of Liverpool, who are in sixth place in the table - the last slot that brings Europa League qualification.

Team Line-Ups :

Blackburn: Robinson; Salgado, Nelsen, Jones, Givet; Pedersen (Roberts 64), Andrews (Hoillet 70), Nzonzi, Olsson (At 90th St.); Dunn; Kalinic

Everton: Howard, Hibbert (Yakubu 79), Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Pienaar, Arteta, Neville, Cahill, Bilyaletdinov (Anichebe 69), Saha (Yobo 90)

United's lost opportunity against Blackburn could be costly.

**Manchester United squandered a chance to regain the Premier League lead when it settled for a 0-0 tie with Blackburn on Sunday to remain behind Chelsea in the title race.

A victory would have put United a point ahead of Chelsea, but Antonio Valencia and Dimitar Berbatov both missed chances at Ewood Park.

Chelsea, which now leads the league by one point, has the chance to go four ahead of United by beating Bolton at home Tuesday.

Meanwhile Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final by beating Tottenham 2-0 a day after it was relegated from the English top flight.

It turned out to be a good day for Chelsea, which stayed ahead of United in the league title race and then found out it would face Portsmouth — in financial administration and down at the foot of the Premier League standings — rather than fifth-place Tottenham in the May 15 cup final.

In one of the biggest shocks of the season, extra-time goals by Frederic Piquionne and Kevin-Prince Boateng gave cash-strapped Portsmouth victory in a dramatic semifinal at Wembley.

While Portsmouth fans know their team will be playing in the League Championship next season, they also know they will be returning to Wembley where their team won the FA Cup two seasons ago, coincidentally under current Spurs coach Harry Redknapp.

United's lost opportunity against Blackburn could be costly.

"It's a blow, there's no question about that, and it makes it really difficult to win the league now," said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose team is trying to become the first to win the league title four times in a row.

"That's a fantastic result for [Chelsea]. They will be really delighted at that and they have a home game against Bolton on Tuesday. They will be expected to win that of course. We needed to win today. We are a point behind Chelsea and they have a game in hand and that would take it to four points and it's a big gap."

Without 34-goal Wayne Rooney, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, United failed to dominate a mid-standings Blackburn side and its first clear chance did not come until just before halftime, when Valencia broke clear, only for Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson to block his shot.

Berbatov had a good chance in the 80th minute when he was unmarked 15 yards out but shot straight at the keeper. Three minutes later, the Bulgaria striker, whose inconsistent form has made him unpopular with many of the United fans, fired wide from the edge of the area.

Deep into injury time, a half-chance fell to United right back Gary Neville but he pulled his shot wide with his weaker left foot.

Manchester City strengthened its hold on fourth place with a 5-1 victory over Birmingham.

Carlos Tevez stroked home a 38th-minute penalty and added a second when he touched in a header from Nedum Onuoha. Emmanuel Adebayor made it three before he and Onuoha scored further goals to move City on to 62 points from 33 games. Tottenham has 58 from 32.

Without injured striker Fernando Torres, Liverpool was held 0-0 at home by Fulham to lose more ground on City in the race for fourth. Rafa Benitez's sixth-place team now has 56 points from 34 games, with Aston Villa next on 54 from 32.

Wolves edged closer to safety with a 0-0 draw at home to mid-table Stoke and are now six points above the relegation zone with four games still to play.

Team Line-Ups :

Blackburn Rovers: Robinson, Jones, Givet, Salgado, Nzonzi, Samba (Nelsen 32 ') Grella, Pedersen, Olsson (Diouf 70'), Emerton (Dunn 45 '), Kalinic

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Vidic, Ferdinand, O'Shea (Evra 78 '), Neville, Scholes, Nani, Giggs (Gibson 57'), Valencia, Macheda (Park 65 '), Berbatov

Chelsea victory over drogba goal postponed because El-Hadji Diouf

BLACKBURN ROVERS 1
- Diouf 70

CHELSEA 1
- Drogba 6

**Blackburn Rover lifted her head boldly to challenge Chelsea 1-1, prevent the Blues taking over at the top of the Premier League table.

The visitors started the better early on, when they exposed Blackburn’s left hand side, with both Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka exploiting the opportunities that came as a result to test the Blackburn goal.

Anelka the simple of beautiful-pass balls to Drogba, who dispatched it directly into the bottom right corner of the net for his 22nd league goal of the season. From then on Chelsea continued to put the home side under the cosh, and left Jason Brown, in the Rovers goal, scrambling on several occasions.

But in the 70th minute after second Half time, Blackburn’s luck was to finally pay off with 20 minutes left in the game, when a superb cross from former Real Madrid defender Michel Salgado was powerfully headed pass Turnbull and into the Chelsea net by El-Hadji Diouf.

The whistle goes and Blackburn have held on for the draw. Chelsea can't take advantage of the opportunity to seize power Premier League table.

Team Line-ups:

Blackburn Rovers: Jason Brown, Phil Jones, Christopher Samba, Martin Olsson, Míchel Salgado, Keith Andrews, Steven Nzonzi (David Hoilett 90), El-Hadji Diouf, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Nikola Kalinic (Jason Roberts 63), David Dunn (Brett Emerton 56)

Chelsea: Ross Turnbull, John Terry, Alex, Paulo Ferreira, Branislav Ivanovic (Yuri Zhirkov 45), John Mikel Obi, Florent Malouda, Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou (Deco 74), Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka (Daniel Sturridge 90)

Nikola Kalinic scored again

BLACKBURN ROVERS 3
- Kalinic 41,
- Roberts 73,
- Givet 84

BOLTON WANDERERS 0

**ROVERS hit their first league double of the season with a comfortable 3-0 victory over local rivals Bolton.

Blackburn enjoyed the better of the first half and deservedly led at the break. Morten Gamst Pedersen, Ryan Nelson and Nikola Kalinic all had chances, before the latter gave the home side the advantage.

Following a good opening for Matt Taylor, one ball down-field out did the visitors and offered an insight into why they are in the bottom three. Finding themselves in a two on one, Junior Hoilett headed down to Kalinic, whose shot deflected off Zat Knight and past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Right after the restart both sides had good chances. Bolton nearly levelled after Taylor's ball through was chased by Ricardo Gardner, but Paul Robinson was on hand to deny the midfielder.

As in the first half though, Rovers went right down the other end and carved out a chance of their own. Pedersen's cross was inch perfect to Hoilett, whose header looked destined for the net but for the outstretched hand of Jaaskelainen.

Robinson was again called into action in the 58th minute. Kevin Davies' neat pass found Chung-Yong Lee, but his shot was well dealt with by the Rovers keeper.

Rovers nearly found added to their lead from a Pedersen corner with 20 minutes left. However Steven Nzonzi's header was turned round the post by Jaakelainen. From the second though Bolton weren't so lucky, Jason Roberts sprung the offside trap to put his side in a commanding position at 2-0.

Gael Givet found the third with only six minutes left. From Pedersen's quickly taken free kick, El-Hadji Diouf crossed and the defender stole in to head past a helpless Jaaskelainen.

Rovers' fourth straight home win moves them 11 points clear of Owen Coyle's men, who remain in the bottom three.

Temas :

Blackburn: Robinson, Salgado, Nelsen, Givet, Olsson, Andrews, Nzonzi, Hoilett, Pedersen, Diouf, Kalinic. Subs: Brown, Dunn, Roberts, Grella, Reid, Di Santo, Chimbonda.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Ricketts, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Muamba, Gardner, Taylor, Elmander, Kevin Davies. Subs: Al Habsi, Mark Davies, Klasnic, Cohen, Andrew O'Brien, Wilshere, Weiss.

Source : http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk

George Boateng with a controversial red card

A single Martin Olsson goal prove enough for Blackburn to beat ten-man Hull, who now sit just one point outside the relegation zone.
The only goal came after just 16 minutes, when Olsson advanced into the area and despite losing his balance fired goalwards from the tightest of angles. His effort appeared to be heading across goal as it hit Myhill on the way through and into the far corner.

Just six minutes before the break, Hull's chances were dealt another blow as Saturday's goal hero George Boateng was shown the red card by referee Lee Probert. The midfielder appeared to catch Pedersen with his arm, but whether it was deliberate by the Hull man was debatable.

Blackburn made the extra man count for much of the second half, creating a number of decent openings, but Myhill was equal to Rovers' efforts. First Givet's point blank effort from six-yards out was well blocked by the Tigers keeper and then Emerton was set free by Diouf only to see Myhill save again.

The closest Hull came was a free-kick sent narrowly over by substitute Amir Zaki, but in truth Blackburn were comfortable and Phil Brown's men remain deep in trouble towards the foot of the table.

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Source : http://www.clubcall.com

Goals from Morten Gamst Pederson and Nikola Kalinic

Blackburn Rovers 2
- Pedersen 20,
- Kalinic 76

Wigan Athletic 1
- Caldwell 57

Blackburn made three changes from the team that won their last league game. With Chris Samba suspended, Steven Reid on the subs bench and Benni McCarthy - on the brink of a move to West Ham - absent, Junior Hoilett, Morten Gamst Pedersen and El-Hadji Diouf all started. Wigan were almost identical to the side that won at Wolves, with the only change being Serbia's national goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic deputising for the injured Chris Kirkland.

Croatia striker Nikola Kalinic, who scored twice in the 6-4 Carling semi-final defeat by Aston Villa last week, headed the winner 14 minutes from time - his first league goal for the club.

Blackburn gave notice of their intentions as early as the fourth minute as Kalinic hit the post from close range after a cross from the left by Hoilett had been touched back at the far post by Steven N'Zonzi.

On 20 minutes, Rovers were ahead when Stojkevic could only parry a free-kick from 35 yards by Brett Emerton and Pedersen lashed the ball high into the top left-hand corner from 20 yards out for his fifth goal of the season.

Hoilett shot into the side-netting on 35 minutes for Rovers following a cross from Emerton but a couple of minutes later, Wigan had their best chance so far when James McCarthy and Scharner both just failed to get a touch on a free-kick from the left by Hugo Rodallega.

Just before the break, Charles N'Zogbia won the ball off El-Hadji Diouf on the Wigan right and set Rodallega clear on goal but the Wigan striker was ruled offside.

Wigan equalised 11 minutes into the second half as Caldwell stooped low to head in from a left-wing corner by McCarthy after Rodallega had had a shot blocked by ex-Wigan man Pascal Chimbonda.

Blackburn went desperately close to a second on 62 minutes when Pedersen rose high at the far post to meet an Emerton cross from the right but saw his header come back off the crossbar.

Eight minutes later, Rovers went close again when Chimbonda headed wide at the far post from a free-kick from the left by Pedersen.

Rovers got the reward for their dominance on 76 minutes when Kalinic put them back in front with his first league goal for the club after five strikes in seven cup matches.

source : http://www.football.co.uk