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  • Date:2009-05-24
  • Kick-off:16:00
  • Venue:Ewood Park
  • Attendance:28389
  • Referee:Jones, M

Live Commentary

93mins

Full Time: Blackburn 0-0 West Brom. The final whistle goes on a game that lacked spark and creativity for much of the 90 minutes. Roberts' dismissal for violent conduct is the significant moment but West Brom failed to make the extra man count.

90mins

Chris Wood comes on to replace Menseguez for the final few minutes.

87mins

Koren looks to cross from the right but Andrews it back in to make the block. The resulting corner is delivered by Brunt but swept clear by Gael Givet at the front post.

85mins

A wonderful ovation from the home fans as Tugay Kerimoglu, who retires today, is replaced by Martin Olsson. No doubt that change was simply to allow the Turk to say goodbye.

83mins

Valero is replaced having just been cautioned by Do-Heon Kim in a like for like switch in the midfield.

82mins

Zuiverloon brings down Warnock on the left hand side and the free-kick gives Diouf the chance to cross. His ball in is easily dealt with by Greening at the near post and West Brom clear their lines.

79mins

Perdersen is able to work himself a yard of space on the left hand side and he looks to cross and picks out McCarthy in the box but he heads over the bar. The ball in had a fraction too much pace on it and McCarthy struggled to control the effort.

79mins

Borja Valero brings down Diouf as Blackburn look to break and the rather cynical foul earns the Spaniard a caution.

77mins

Brunt's cross in turned behind for a corner which he will take - He swings it in towards Greening at the front post but the skipper can only head wide of the target from close range. A difficult chance but perhaps he should have done better.

76mins

Brunt is starting to find space on the flanks and West Brom are using their extra man well at the moment. Brunt looks to cross having cut inside but he can't pick out a team mate.

74mins

The game has become a little ragged since the red card that came out of nothing in truth. Roberts should know better and that's a sad way to end the season and has made the game a little heated in the last few minutes with lots of firm challenges.

71mins

Jason Roberts is dismissed! An aerial challenge between him and Jonas Olsson results in the striker being sent off for violent conduct (later rescinded by the FA). Blackburn are down to ten men.

69mins

Grella comes off as Mokoena enters the action in Sam Allardyce's second change of the game.

68mins

Menseguez finds himself infield as West Brom work the ball well in the final third. Menseguez picks the ball up juts outside the box and shoots but misses left of the target.

66mins

Marc-Antoine Fortne pulls the trigger from just outside the box after crafting a yard of space but his effort is well saved by Robinson down low to his left.

64mins

Koren finds himself in a wide area and finds Fortune with the cross but the header from Fortune is off target from close range. Koren seeing a lot of the ball in te last few minutes.

61mins

Koren forces Ooijer to make the block from his shot and concede a corner that Greening will take. The delivery is disappointing however, and Warnock is able to clear the ball upfield.

59mins

Christopher Samba is replaced by a much more familiar front-man, Jason Roberts. Can he provide the breakthrough that the home fans so desperately crave?

55mins

Stephen Warnock comes forward from the left back position to put in a cross after linking up with Pedersen but the ball sails into the arms of Kiely who gratefully receives.

52mins

West Brom press and the ball falls kindly for Robert Koren just inside the box but his snap shot travels right of the target.

48mins

Grella is brought down by Brunt in the left channel and Blackburn have a free-kick in a dangerous position. McCarthy to strike - Off target. Disappointing from the South African.

46mins

The second period gets underway with both sides unchanged from the first.

45mins

Halftime: Blackburn 0-0 West Brom. The halftime whistle goes on a fairly even first half. Blackburn could have led through Samba early on but after he hit the post the Baggies came back into the game and Brunt and Valero in particular have impressed.

44mins

As half-time approaches Greening is forward down the left and side and crosses to find Brunt on the penalty spot but his shot is well saved by Robinson. A good reaction stop from the former England number one.

40mins

McCarthy is brought down by Donk and Pedersen will look to shoot from here. Up steps the Norwegian but the wall does it's job and the game remains goalless.

39mins

West Brom are just starting to work themselves into the game now and Brunt again looks to shoot from long range but once again is well off target with the shot.

35mins

Givet brings down Valero a fair way out but Brunt will fancy a crack at this with his sweet left foot. He does take the shot on but can't keep it on target and the home fans let out a rather sarcastic cheer.

33mins

Diouf finds space on the right hand side and looks for a cross towards Samba in the middle but it is too close to the keeper and Kiely comes out to gather.

31mins

The tempo of the game has rather slowed in the last few minutes with perhaps a few of the players beginning to plan their summer holidays.

27mins

Borja Valero has been heavily involved in anything the visitors have put together so far and again he looks to test Robinson from range but his strike is always moving away from the target.

23mins

Diouf charges down a clearance from Donk and is in behind the Baggies defence here. He looks up to see support in the middle but his final pass is woeful and West Brom get away with the mistake.

20mins

Blackburn certainly seem eager to get infront - This time it is Tugay trying to break the deadlock with a trademark strike that flashes past the upright. How we would love to score on the day he bows out of football.

19mins

Pedersen comes in off the left hand side to link up with Samba and McCarthy and the Scandinavian tries his luck from just outside the area and forces Kiely to make a smart save to turn it behind.

15mins

Borja Valero forces a good save from Robinson with a shot from range but Blackburn break quickly and the ball finds it way to Samba in the box. The forward shoots first time from close range but is denied only by the upright. He should have scored!

13mins

West Brom are struggling to get out of their own half at the moment. Benni McCarthy looks to shoot from just inside the box but again it is blocked, this time by Olsson. Diouf takes the resulting corner but Greening clears at the near post.

11mins

Rovers continue to press and the ball falls for Christopher Samba on the edge of the box but he fires a shot harmlessly over the bar from the edge of the box. Perhaps that's why he usually plays in defence.

9mins

Blackburn build some pressure as Warnock breaks down the left but his cross travels all the way through to Andrews on the other flank. He then crosses back into the box but no-one in a blue and white shirt is able to get on the end of it.

5mins

Chris Brunt picks the ball up deep and makes positive strides forward before shooting at goal but Givet blocks it and sends it for a corner. Greening takes it short but in the end it comes to nothing.

3mins

The first shot of the half comes from Benni McCarthy as he turns and pulls the trigger from the edge of the box but Ryan Donk puts out a leg to make the block.

0mins

The final day of the season always seems to turn up some sensational games. Let's hope Ewood Park is the venue for one today and with a sharp blast from Mike Jones' whistle, the game is underway.

0mins

Tony Mowbray picks a forward looking side that features Menseguez, Brunt, Valero and Koren in midfield. Dean Kiely continues in goal and the travelling fans will be hoping for something to cheer in a season that has offered little to celebrate.

0mins

Sam Allarydce continues with Samba as a target man up-front with McCarthy playing off the big man. Tugay starts in midfield with Grella to provide Rovers with a battling platform that the likes of Pedersen and Diouf can play from.

0mins

West Brom: Kiely, Zuiverloon, Donk, Olsson, Robinson, Koren, Borja Valero, Greening, Brunt, Menseguez, Fortune

0mins

Blackburn: Robinson, Andrews, Ooijer, Givet, Warnock, Diouf, Kerimoglu, Pedersen, Samba, McCarthy, Grella

0mins

The end of the season is nigh but unfortunately for West Brom, they have already been relegated. Blackburn Rovers will want to put on a show for their home fans to end their season but the Baggies will be determined to go down in style.

Match Preview

There will be little to play for at Ewood Park as Blackburn Rovers ensured earlier this month that they will be embarking on their ninth successive Premier League campaign in August, while West Brom's relegation was confirmed when they lost 2-0 to Liverpool last weekend.

Albion boss Tony Mowbray has promised that the Baggies will bounce back by securing promotion from the Championship next season and the former Middlesbrough defender seems certain to still be in charge at The Hawthorns next term.

Sam Allardyce also looks set to be in the Rovers hot-seat next season after successfully guiding the club away from the bottom three in the second half of the campaign.

He has managed the feat despite being without Roque Santa Cruz since early March and the Paraguay international, who seems certain to be on the move in the summer, has only weighed in with four Premier League goals this term.

Santa Cruz will again be missing this weekend as will David Dunn (Achilles), Brett Emerton (cruciate knee ligaments) and Steven Reid (knee), while club captain Ryan Nelsen is a major doubt after limping out of Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea with a calf strain.

However, loan star Gael Givet should be fit enough to feature despite picking up a similar injury at Stamford Bridge.

Rovers should be able to secure their seventh home win of the campaign as Albion's away form this term has been wretched - they have tasted defeat in 13 of their 18 matches away from The Hawthorns.

Their only away win this season came at Middlesbrough almost eight months ago.

Mowbray is expected to make several changes from the side that lost to Liverpool although he will definitely be without long-term injury victims Ishmael Miller and Neil Clement, while James Morrison is a doubt with an ankle problem.


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Match Report

Blackburn Rovers failed to give fans' favourite Tugay the dream send off after playing out a disappointing goalless draw at home to West Bromwich Albion.

Chris Brunt rattled the woodwork for the visitors, while Chris Samba came closest for the home side, who had substitute Jason Roberts sent off on his return from injury.

Rovers' biggest following of the season turned out to bid a fond farewell to Tugay, who has made just short of 300 appearances in eight years at Ewood Park.

With Rovers skipper Ryan Nelsen missing with a calf injury, the midfield maestro was handed the captain's armband, while Andre Ooijer, who was also making his final appearance before a summer switch back to PSV, returned to the team in the centre of defence.

The visitors registered the game's first attack with Brunt's early sighter looping off the leg of Gael Givet and over the bar.

But from that moment on, Rovers gained the ascendancy. Samba went close with two left-foot strikes in the space of five minutes - the first whistling just over the bar and the second brushing the outside of the post.

Morten Gamst Pedersen was then denied when his dipping free-kick from 30 yards had to be palmed around the post and from the resulting corner, Tugay fizzed an effort just wide.

As the half drew to a close, Brunt again provided the Baggies' biggest threat.

First he dragged a shot well wide from outside the box, before unleashing a fierce volley from Jonathan Greening's deep cross which required a sensational reaction save from Paul Robinson to tip the ball onto the woodwork.

Both sides had penalty appeals for handball waved away early in the second half, before West Brom started to string together some chances.

Marc-Antoine Fortune headed just wide from Robert Koren's cross, before Brunt and then Juan Carlos Menseguez both failed to hit the target in the space of a minute.

Rovers' task was made doubly difficult when Roberts was shown a straight red card for an alleged elbow on Jonas Olsson just 10 minutes after coming on.

The visitors ought to have won it when the unmarked Greening sent a free header wide of the mark from Brunt's corner and it is due to those missed chances that the Baggies will be playing Championship football next season.

Blackburn Rovers

West Bromwich Albion

Corners

49

Fouls

1411

Goal attempts

1013

Shots off target

48

Offsides

13

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