Lancashire | Badly needed home win for Blackburn

Blackburn Rovers 2 - 1 Southampton

Blackburn Rovers staged a dramatic late comeback to claim their first home win of the season.

Author | Paul Montgomery 

Stadium | Ewood Park

Goals in the closing stages from Andri Gudjohnsen and Ryan Alebiosu overturned Leo Scienza’s first-half strike, on a night where all three goalscorers opened their accounts in English football. The visitors finished with 10 men after Welington was dismissed for serious foul play in stoppage time.

Bad weather denied Rovers their breakthrough victory while leading late on against Ipswich in September, so the relief around Ewood Park at the final whistle was clear to see. This result lifts Valerien Ismael’s side out of the relegation zone into 21st, while Southampton slip to 20th and find themselves increasingly mired in trouble.

Both clubs arrived in Lancashire on the back of 3-1 defeats, and only the administration-hit Sheffield Wednesday sat below the hosts at kick-off. Southampton started brightly, with Adam Armstrong combining neatly with Finn Azaz to set up Cameron Archer, only for Balazs Toth to intervene decisively.

Rovers responded when Taylor Gardner-Hickman struck the upright direct from a corner, and Yuki Ohashi saw a goalbound effort blocked by Joshua Quarshie. Yet the breakthrough came at the other end, Scienza capitalising on a wayward pass before guiding a composed finish into the net. It was his first goal since joining from Magdeburg in the summer.

Blackburn emerged a more assertive side after the restart. 

Ohashi was denied from close range by Alex McCarthy and Ryoya Morishita wasted a golden chance by dragging wide when clean through. Toth then kept Rovers in the contest with two key stops from Armstrong, the second diverted onto the post with his feet.

The tide finally turned in the final quarter of an hour. Alebiosu struck from the right flank, his cross sailing through a crowded area and into the far corner, sparking renewed belief among the home support. Gudjohnsen then sealed the points, finishing after McCarthy had saved from Ryan Hedges. In doing so, he achieved what his father Eidur never managed. A goal at Ewood Park.

Southampton’s evening unravelled further when Welington was shown a red card for elbowing Gudjohnsen, compounding a dismal conclusion to a match that had once been in their grasp.