Blackburn Rovers 2 Wigan Athletic 1: match report

Perhaps there was a measure of a smirk on the face of Sam Allardyce as his team responded to chants of "4-4-2" and "We're supposed to be at home" with Nikola Kalinic's first Premier League goal. The Croatian arrived in a £6 million deal from Hadjuk Split in the summer and no sooner had he finally broken his duck in league football, than he was hauled off by Allardyce as Blackburn Rovers moved up to 11th in the table.  Related ArticlesPremier League tablePremier League actionTelegraph player raterPremier League fixturesTransfer TalkSport on televisionGary Caldwell's header at the start of the second half, also his first in the Premier League, cancelled out Morten Gamst Pedersen's opener but Kalinic's late goal ensured a second successive home win to give Blackburn some breathing space. To many this must have seemed like the most unattractive game in the country but from the start it was clear that both teams were craving a victory over their relegation rival. Watched by the Scotland manager Craig Levin, who is still hopeful of persuading Wigan's James McCarthy to switch his allegiance from the Republic of Ireland, the youngster played through for Hugo Rodallega only for the Columbian's shot to fly wide off Ryan Nelsen. Making his debut after joining on loan from Sporting Lisbon, Wigan Athletic's Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic almost gifted the hosts an opening goal, losing out to Steven Nzonzi as he scrambled wide for a bouncing ball, but Nikola Kalinic's shot came back off the post. Stojkovic was soon made to pay for his nerves as he came to the edge of his area to punch Brett Emerton's free kick but only cleared as far as Pedersen, who hit an angled shot into the corner of the net. Although they endured an anxious moment when Stojkovic looked to have gathered Mario Melchiot's header outside the area, Wigan should have equalised when Paul Scharner, who had already missed with a header, failed to get a touch to Rodallega's whipped free kick. Nelsen pulled off a timely block from Rodallega at the start of the second period but from the McCarthy corner that followed, Caldwell was able to shake off a weak challenge from Pascal Chimbonda to head in from close range to pull the visitors level. Pedersen almost restored Blackburn's advantage immediately from an Emerton cross, but with Stojkovic beaten, the Norwegian's header came back off the bar. But with a quarter of an hour remaining, Kalinic, who scored twice against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup last week, stooped to head in from Pedersen's corner at the near post.

Source: Telegraph