• Date: Wed 04 March 2009
  • Venue: Ewood Park
  • Ref: Wiley, A
  • Attendance: 21,445

Blackburn Rovers vs Everton

Team Lineups

Blackburn Rovers

Jason Brown
Christopher Samba
Ryan Nelsen
Andre Ooijer
Gael Givet (Aaron Mokoena, 64)
Vince Grella (Kerimoglu Tugay, 46)
Stephen Warnock
Keith Andrews
Jason Roberts
El Hadji Diouf (Keith Treacy, 88)
Roque Santa Cruz

Everton

Tim Howard
Phil Jagielka
Joseph Yobo
Joleon Lescott
Leighton Baines
Phil Neville
Steven Pienaar
Leon Osman
Jack Rodwell (Louis Saha, 71)
Tim Cahill
Joao Alves Jo (Marouane Fellaini, 78)


Live Text Commentary
Full time
 

Full-time: BLACKBURN 0 - 0 EVERTON: The referee calls time on this game as both teams are forced to settle for a point.

90

Corner for Blackburn is whipped in by Treacy towards Samba, only for the defender to give away a free kick as the attack breaks down.

90

Warnock attempts to thread the ball through to Roberts, but his pass is too heavy and Howard collects.

90

Five minutes of added time have been announced - can either side grab a winner?

89

With just a couple of minutes left in this game, both teams will know that a goal now will result in three points. It does seem as though a draw is being settled for though.

88
Substitution
 

Diouf is replaced by Keith Treacy as Blackburn make their final change of the game.

87

Roberts almost gets past Yobo to work his way into a goalscoring opportunity, but the Everton defender just gets the better of him and clears the danger.

86

Pienaar attempts to launch an Everton attack, but Warnock slides in and wins the ball with ease. That was a decent piece of defending.

84

Santa Cruz runs with the ball towards the Everton defence before firing a shot comfortably wide of the post. That was more in hope than anything.

82

Cahill picks the ball up 25 yards from goal and manages to fire a shot straight into the arms of Brown.

80

It remains to be seen whether either side can find a winner in this game. If Blackburn manage it, they will have achieved 500 points in the Premier League.

78
Substitution
 

Marouane Fellaini comes on to replace the rather quiet Jo for Everton. Can he make a difference?

77

Diouf is involved again as he produces a decent cross onto the head of Mokoena who fails to direct the ball on target.

76

Andrews chips the ball down the left hand side into the path of Diouf, but the former Bolton man is in offside position. The crowd didn't like that decision.

74

Cahill knocks a high ball into the box to test the Blackburn defence, but Samba does enough to clear the danger. Everton on top now.

73

Jo and Pienaar exchange passes before the latter bursts into the penalty area only for Warnock to make a crucial goal-saving challenge for his team.

71
Substitution
 

Everton make their first change of the game as Louis Saha replaces Rodwell.

70

The tempo of this game is picking up somewhat now, with Blackburn looking the more likely to score the opening goal.

68

The best chance of the game so far goes to Jason Roberts who races clear on goal, only to take too many touches and lose the ball to Howard in the Everton goal.

68

Warnock tries his luck from long range and almost gives his side the lead as his shot comes crashing off the bar.

67

Corner for the home side is comfortably cleared by Everton. Diouf's deliveries have been nowhere near good enough tonight.

66

Pienaar finds lots of space as Everton push forward, but luckily for Blackburn, Jo is caught offside.

65
Substitution
 

This is Givet's last involvement in the game as he is replaced by Aaron Mokoena.

64
Yellow Card
 

Gael Givet is shown the yellow-card after going in late on an Everton player.

63

Allardyce will know that his team can't afford to concede the first goal tonight. They have drawn two and lost ten of the last 12 league games where they have gone behind.

61

A neat Blackburn move results in Santa Cruz heading a Diouf cross just wide of the post. Much better football from the home side.

60

Diouf wastes the chance to get a decent ball into the box as his attempted pass is easily blocked by Leon Osman and cleared by Everton.

58

Tugay's first involvement is to take the ball past Cahill and play it back towards his defence. That could have gone wrong!

57

Cahill is back on the pitch, but doesn't look at all comfortable. David Moyes will monitor his progress in the next few minutes.

56

Samba clatters into the back of Cahill to leave the Australian on the floor for a couple of minutes. Will he be able to continue? Not sure.

55

Everton are undefeated in five games in all competitions and will be desperate to keep their run going tonight. They fancy challenging the top four in the final third of the season.

53

Cahill gets his head on the end of a Pienaar cross, but he fails to get any power behind it and Brown saves comfortably.

52

Neither side is looking that confident going forward this evening and both managers will consider changing their attacking options at some stage.

51

First chance of the second half falls to Blackburn as Santa Cruz blasts his shot wide of the post from 12 yards. That was a decent opportunity for Rovers.

49

It seems as though Santa Cruz has taken up a more central role in this second half. We shall see if it makes any difference to Blackburn's fortunes.

48

Free kick for the home side is whipped into the penalty area by Diouf only for Howard to collect the ball with ease.

47

Everton will be very keen to nick a winning goal tonight as they haven't won on the road in three away games.

46
Substitution
 

Change for Blackburn at the break as Kerimoglu Tugay comes on to replace Vince Grella.

Second half
 

The second half is underway with both sides looking to break the deadlock in a game where one goal might be enough for the three points.

Half time
 

Half-time: BLACKBURN 0-0 EVERTON: The referee blows at the end of a very even first half where few chances were created.

45

Jo gets himself into a decent shooting position, but his shot is weak and goes straight into the arms of Brown.

44

Pienaar tries his luck from long range, but it is blocked well by Ooijer before Samba eventually hacks the ball away.

43

Sam Allardyce will probably be happy to get his team in at the break at 0-0. Everton are getting far too much time and space in the final third right now.

41

Jagielka's ball is way too long for Jo, but there is no doubt that Everton have had the better of this game in the last few minutes.

40

Everton almost take the lead through Pienaar who forces an excellent reflex save from Brown after getting on the end of a Cahill cross.

38

Christopher Samba makes a crucial interception for his team as he robs Jo of the ball just as the Brazilian was about to get his shot away.

37

Warnock bursts forward with the ball at his feet and does well to hold onto it under pressure from several Everton defenders, but he eventually runs out of room and loses possession.

35

Howard manages to collect a high cross at the second attempt under pressure from Warnock. That was almost a costly error from the Everton keeper.

34

Baines wins the ball off Santa Cruz just before the Blackburn striker was about to whip the ball into the box. Excellent defending.

32

Andrews has been heavily involved in every Blackburn attack. This time he beats his man before his low cross just avades the waiting Roberts.

31

As we go past the half an hour mark, there has still been no attempts on target. It has been an entertaining game though and both teams will think the three points are there for the taking.

29

Ironic cheers from the home fans as Blackburn win a free kick. They haven't been at all happy with him so far.

27

Blackburn pile the pressure on Everton with a succession of forward passes, but the away defence stands firm and eventually clear the danger.

26

Fantastic cross in from Cahill finds Jack Rodwell who smashes the ball over the bar with his volley. Perhaps he should have taken a touch there.

25

Jagielka finds Pienaar in some space on the right wing, but he can't get the ball under control and eventually loses possession. That sums up the first half so far.

23

Baines knocks a high free-kick into the Blackburn penalty area, but Jason Brown is there to collect the ball with relative ease.

21

Should Blackburn manage to get a win tonight, it would be their first Premier League home victory over Everton since 2003.

19

Every time Cahill gets the ball he is being surrounded by at least two Blackburn defenders. They are obviously keen to restrict his creativity.

17

Everton have thrown themselves in front of four Blackburn shots now, so Howard is yet to be tested.

16

Santa Cruz finds space on the left hand side and his lofted pass towards the back post finds Andrews who has his shot blocked by Joleon Lescott.

15

The home side have had the better of this game since Jo's shot in the opening minute. Neither team has created much as yet though.

14

Andrews knocks the ball forward into the path of Roberts who thought he had won a corner for his team only for the referee to signal for a goal-kick.

13

Leighton Baines only just prevents Diouf getting a shot on goal after the Blackburn striker had taken the ball down well.

12

Pienaar is the latest Everton player to attempt a back heal and much like with Cahill earlier, Blackburn defend well and win the ball.

10

Stephen Warnock has time and space to deliver a decent ball forward from his side, only for him to waste it with an aimless ball into the crowd.

9

Jason Roberts brings the ball down well after collecting possession off Roque Santa Cruz, but the striker fails to find Diouf with his forward pass. Unlucky.

7

Tim Cahill's back heal almost sets Steven Pienaar on his way down the right hand side, but Andre Ooijer does enough to end the attack. Decent defending.

6

Blackburn have three shots in succession blocked by Everton as they look to test Tim Howard in the Everton goal.

5

This fixture ended in a rather uneventful 0-0 draw last season, hopefully there will be more excitement in tonight's game.

4

Keith Andrews bursts down the right hand side with purpose, but his eventual cross is headed away by Phil Jagielka before it could find Diouf.

3

Blackburn's first attack of the game is wasted as El Hadji Diouf's pass into the area is cleared away comfortably by the Everton defence.

2

Nothing comes from the resulting corner, but it is a very positive start from the away side.

1

Very early chance for Everton as Joao Alves Jo takes a shot from distance only for it to be deflected wide of the post.

Kickoff
 

They are under way at Ewood Park with both Blackburn and Everton searching for back to back wins in the Premier League.