Source: Daily_Mail
PREMIER LEAGUE LIVE: Blackburn v West Ham - the action as it happened
FULL-TIME: BLACKBURN ROVERS 1 WEST HAM UNITED 1[LNB]94 mins: Final whistle goes a shade early. last four games between these two have been drawn. A fair result in the end. Not enough to ease the pressure on Avram Grant, though. Hammers remain bottom of the table, three points adrift of safety.[LNB]93 mins: Pedersen thumps the free kick through the wall and luckily for the Hammers, it goes narrowly wide.[LNB]92 mins: Boa Morte brings down Emerton on the edge of the box. Terrible challenge, he was going towards the corner flag. He's rightly booked. Could easily have been a penalty.[LNB]90 mins: Home fans are leaving early. [LNB]89 mins: Four minutes of stoppage time announced.[LNB]89 mins: Pedersen has Boffin scrambling across his goal after he tries a long-range effort. It goes narrowly wide.[LNB]88 mins: Cross by Parker goes out of play.[LNB] Point made: Substitute Junior Stanislas keeps his cool to slot past Paul Robinson[LNB]87 mins: Hammers try to break Parker and Piquionne combine to cause a few nervous moments for Rovers, who had to face a two-against-three situation for a second or two.[LNB]85 mins: Corner to Blackburn. McCarthy completes a clearance. [LNB]84 mins: Must be time to have another dig at the Hammers, surely? They might sneak a winner then![LNB]83 mins: McCarthy almost makes an immediate impact, but he fluffs his shot and treads on the ball to earn howls of derision from Rovers' fans, who are getting a little restless.[LNB]82 mins: Benni McCarthy is on for West Ham against his old club. Dyer is replaced.[LNB]80 mins: David Dunn has the ball in the net at the other end but it is ruled out for a Nelsen push on Gabbidon.[LNB]GOAL! 78 mins: Blackburn Rovers 1 WEST HAM UNITED 1 [LNB]Hammers are back in it. A cracking finish from JUNIOR STANISLAS after some great creative work by Scott Parker. The youngster keeps his composure to fire past Robinson from 12 yards.[LNB]74 mins: Nelsen makes a strong challenge to send Cole skidding into the snow behind the goal.[LNB]73 mins: Despite reaching the semi-finals of the 'Who Cares Cup', this is the worst West Ham side I've seen in many years. They look bereft of ideas up front and, in some cases, disinterested. Time to lament Brooking, Bonds, Lampard, Cottee and McAvennie... heck, I'd even take Geoff Pike and Bobby Barnes![LNB]71 mins: Upson gets a head on a long free kick, the ball breaks, is put back in by Stanislas and Upson takes the opportunity to swing his left boot at the ball. He catches it well on the outside of his foot and the ball smacks the post. Woodwork saves Blackburn. Hammers start to look threatening. No luck for the visitors.[LNB]69 mins: Another Rovers re-shuffle. Scotland Under-21 international Grant Hanley comes on for Jones.[LNB]66 mins: Break in play as sub Phil Jones, who has come on for Samba, is injured.[LNB]65 mins: Great run by Dyer. He beats Givet and sells a dummy to two players before putting the ball in to Carlton Cole, who fires wide from six yards. Best chance for the Hammers so far.[LNB]62 mins: The Hammers have had just one shot on target thus far, with over an hour gone. And two corners. [LNB] Bundle: Ryan Nelsen latches on to a loose ball in the West Ham area to give Blackburn the lead[LNB]61 mins: Rovers' Givet is booked for unsporting behaviour (or a bad haircut). He brings down Parker.[LNB]58 mins: Stanislas tries his luck from 25 yards, but his short is blocked by Salgado.[LNB]55 mins: Blackburn take off Samba and midfielder Phil Jones comes into the centre of defence alongside Nelsen. Emerton is booked for pulling the shirt of Piquionne. Cole is on for Spector and Stanislas replaces Barrera.[LNB]52 mins: Grant needs to change things. Cole and Stanislas getting prepared to come on for the Hammers. [LNB]GOAL 51 mins: BLACKBURN ROVERS 1 West Ham United 0 [LNB]An ugly goal for an ugly game. On the right side of the six-yard box, RYAN NELSEN takes advantage of a goalmouth scramble to fire home. A great initial stop from Boffin, but the ball went straight to the Nelsen. Desperate luck for the Belgian stopper.[LNB]48 mins: Tal Ben-Haim is booked for a challenge on Mame Diouf. Much more lively start.[LNB]47 mins: Good chance for Rovers. Pederson crosses from the left and Samba's header isn't far away. [LNB]46 mins: We're underway again. The Hammers kick off, looking for their first win in 27 away games. They are the Detroit Lions of the Premier League! [LNB]HALF TIME: Blackburn Rovers 0 West Ham United 0[LNB]45 mins: Dreadful half, if we are honest. Mike Dean wastes little time in putting us out of our misery. Bovril required. [LNB] Don't bother: They're not going to trouble it...[LNB]43 mins: Piquionne is causing a few problems. He looks the most likely to break the deadllock.[LNB]42 mins: Piquionne does well as he tries to turn Samba, but the defender is up to the task. [LNB]41mins: Boffin comes for a punch but almost turns his back on the ball and it is a weak affair. He wears an Alice band, in case you were wondering...[LNB]40 mins: Rovers are playing some neat stuff. But there is no real cutting edge at present.[LNB] No way through: Brett Emerton takes on West Ham's Scott Parker[LNB]39 mins: Great chance for West Ham. They get behind Salgado and Piquionne gets in behind him, but loses his composure and hits the side netting with his shot. Who was it that said there would be goals in this game? [LNB]36 mins: Spector tries to put in Dyer, but the oft-injured winger is caught offside again. A warning shot across the bows for Rovers.[LNB]34 mins: Pressure from the home side as Salgado's cross is headed away. Upson is playing a real captain's performance today. He refuses to be beaten.[LNB]33 mins: Hammers' keeper Boffin makes a fine save from Pedersen's dipping free kick. That will do his confidence the world of good. Now, if only he could ditch the Alice band, he'll start to look like a proper West Ham player. Ugh, an image of Billy Bonds in an Alice band has popped into my head. Get it out. Get it out. What is it with footballers these days? Snoods, gloves, duffle coats...[LNB]30 mins: Barrera wins a corner on the right and plays it short before Pedersen sends the ball clear.[LNB]28 mins: Emerton gives away a free-kick down the left but Barrera fires into the hands of Robinson. no great pace on that.[LNB]27 mins: Boa Morte has a crack from long range but it is pretty poor to say the least.[LNB]23 mins: Another corner for Blackburn. Pedersen whips in the ball, but it is too long and too high. It goes behind for a corner. Rumours floating around that Carlton Cole is on his way to Liverpool and the deal is already done. I stress that these are just rumours. 'Never let the facts get in the way of a good story,' says one wag. Can't agree with him, I'm afraid.[LNB] Putting the boot in: Morten Gamst Pedersen sends Luis Boa Morte flying[LNB]22 mins: Dyer has the ball in the back of the net but he's adjudged to be in an offide position, although Salgado may have played him on. Rovers a bit lucky.[LNB]20 mins: Corner by Pederson and the ball falls to Diouf, who hits a decent shot that warms the hands of Boffin.[LNB]19 mins: Givet crosses from the left and the ball appears to come off the arm of Scott Parker. It hits the back of his elbow and goes for a corner. Could have been a penalty there.[LNB]17 mins: Getting colder here. Brrrrrrr. Come on, liven things up, lads![LNB]16 mins: Long ball by Upson is won by Piquionne in the area and Spector picks up the pieces, but blasts high and wide. Rovers look a bit edgy. They don't have a holding midfielder, which may cause them problems. Hammers growing in confidence, without really threatening.[LNB]13 mins: West Ham have their first shot. Piquionne has a narrow angle and blazes over. He's up there on his own as the visitors attempt to play their way through midfield. Good ball from Boa Morte to put him in.[LNB] Sam fan: Can Blackburn respond after the sacking of Allardyce?[LNB]12 mins: Benjani is warming up as Rovers continue to play with 10 men. he comes on for injure Roberts.[LNB]11 mins: Salgado swings a boot but the ball hits row Z. A half-chance there for Rovers.[LNB]10 mins: Emmerton's cross is dealt with easily by James Tompkins.[LNB]8 mins: A quiet opening so far as West Ham try to weather the early storm.[LNB]7 mins: Jason Roberts grabs his hamstring. He's been assisted off the field. Early bath for Roberts.[LNB]3 mins: Corner headed away. The ball is hardly out of the Hammers' half. Pederson has a snap-shot as he tries to test the young keeper but it goes wide.[LNB]1 min: We're underway. How will Rovers respond to the sacking of Allardyce? Gabbidon brings down Mame Diouf on the sedge of the box. Not a great start for the Hammers. Free Kick. Pederson thumps it and the ball deflects for a corner.[LNB] All eyes on me: The heat is on West Ham boss Avram Grant[LNB]Bottom-of-the-table West Ham make the trip to Ewood Park to faceBlackburn Rovers, with boss Avram Grant reportedly three games from thesack.[LNB]With the Israeli masterminding just two League victories thisseason, the heat is on against a Rovers side reeling from Monday'sshock sacking of Sam Allardyce. [LNB]Rovers will want to impress caretaker boss Steve Kean in his firstgame in charge against a side who are yet to taste victory away fromUpton Park in the Barclays Premier League.[LNB]Blackburn are 5-6 favourites, the Hammers are a best-priced 9-2 and the draw is on offer at 14-5.[LNB]We reckon there will be a few goals in this one. But what do weknow... We'll, it's freezing here at Ewood Park, that's for sure. Wedon't do snoods, though.[LNB]Avram Grant has rung the changes, including giving a debut to Belgian goalkeeper Ruud Boffin. [LNB]The 23-year-old comes in for injury victim Robert Green, while DannyGabbidon, Kieron Dyer, Luis Boa Morte and Valon Behrami are also handedstarts as Grant makes five changes from the team beaten 3-1 byManchester City last time out. [LNB]Blackburn caretaker boss Steve Kean keeps faith with most of theside that lost 2-1 to Bolton in Sam Allardyce's last game in charge. [LNB]His only alterations see David Dunn and Mame Biram Diouf replacing Martin Olsson and Phil Jones, who are dropped to the bench. [LNB]Not a great start for the hammers, though. Behrami has injuredhimself in the warm-up and Jonathan Spector takes his place. As ifthings can't get any worse for the bottom club.[LNB]Have to say, though not Carlton Cole's biggest fan, it is a bit worrying that he is left on the bench. [LNB]TODAY'S TEAMS: [LNB]Blackburn: Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Emerton, Mame Diouf, Dunn, Pedersen, El-Hadji Diouf, Roberts. [LNB]Subs: Bunn, Kalinic, Mwaruwari, Hoilett, Jones, Olsson, Hanley. [LNB]West Ham: Boffin, Ben-Haim, Tomkins, Upson, Gabbidon, Barrera, Parker, Dyer, Behrami, Piquionne, Boa Morte. [LNB]Subs: Larkins, Reid, Cole, McCarthy, Spector, Faubert, Stanislas. Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral) [LNB] Des Kelly: Why should we listen to these chicken nuggets after axe falls on Big Sam?Grant: I've not been handed ultimatum by disappointed West Ham boardAndy Townsend's boot room: Clash of the day - Blackburn v West HamBLACKBURN ROVERS FC
