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Blackburn 1-0 Bolton: Olsson great-strike
Blackburn Rovers eased their relegation worries with a 1-0 home win over Lancashire rivals Bolton Wanderers, on Saturday 30/04/2011.
Martin Olsson fired home the only goal of the game after being afforded too much space by his marker David Wheater. The Bolton man showed Olsson onto his weaker right foot, but merely stood and watched as the Swede instead drilled a low shot inside the post with the outside of his left foot.
The result sees Blackburn move above Birmingham City into 16th position, four points clear of the drop zone. Bolton remain eighth.
Bolton's 2-1 victory in the previous match between these two sides last December saw the end of Sam Allardyce's reign as Blackburn manager, and since then the club's dismal run, in which they have picked up just 14 points from 17 matches, has led to the current battle against relegation.
They began by far the stronger, however, adapting well to the strong, swirling wind inside Ewood Park, with goalkeeper Paul Robinson hoisting forward a succession of high punts forward that caused panic amongst the Bolton defence and goalkeeper.
Benjani went close early on for the home side, tapping wide on the stretch from Brett Emerton's knock-down, while Gael Givet threw himself in the way of a goalbound shot from Rodrigo at the other end.
Olsson's pace on the left flank caused makeshift right-back Wheater considerable problems, and the Swede would have grabbed the opener on 14 minutes were it not for a superb defensive header off the line from defender Paul Robinson.
A misdirected defensive header from Michel Salgado then fell to Rodrigo in the Blackburn area, who smashed a half-volley against the post.
That was as close as Bolton went in the first half, and they found themselves behind three minutes later, with Olsson providing the breakthrough with a well-executed left foot finish from just outside the area.
Olsson almost grabbed a second goal in quick succession, but this time saw a low half-volley smartly stopped by Adam Bogdan at the near post.
Though Bolton emerged at the start of the second half with a renewed sense of urgency, they found the Blackburn defence in resolute mood, with Christopher Samba dominating the aerial battles and Johan Elmander afforded no time or space in which to orchestrate attacks.
Instead, Blackburn almost profited from a series of quick counter-attacks, with Olsson continuing to provide a significant threat with his consistently dangerous delivery from the left flank. Benjani in particular found himself with a golden opportunity provided by Olsson on the hour mark, only to be denied by Robinson's alert keeping.
In contrast to Robinson's assuredness in the Blackburn goal, Bogdan looked ill at ease under the bombardment of high balls, and Steven Nzonzi almost profited, flicking the ball agonisingly past the post after a long punt forward with the Bolton keeper caught out of position.
An injury to Salgado forced Steve Kean to introduce Mame Diouf with 15 minutes remaining, and the Senegalese striker should have sealed the win for his side when a loose ball fell to him 15 yards from in goal, though instead he blazed wastefully over the bar.
Fellow substitute Martin Petrov had the Bolton fans out of their seats as the clock ticked down, though his venomous shot rattled into the side-netting, and in the end it was Blackburn who finished the stronger, with Nzonzi thumping a header millimetres over the bar deep in injury time.
Michael FitzGerald / Eurosport
Source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Team Line-up:
Blackburn team: Robinson; Salgado, Samba, Phil Jones, Givet; Emerton, Nzonzi, Jermaine Jones, Olsson; Roberts, Benjani. Substitutes: Bunn, Kalinic, Pedersen, Santa Cruz, Rochina, Hanley, Diouf.
Bolton team: Bogdan; Robinson, Wheater, Knight, Cahill; Moreno, Gardner, Cohen, Taylor; Elmander, Kevin Davies. Substitutes: Jaaskelainen, Muamba, Petrov, Klasnic, Blake, Alonso, Lee.
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