Rovers returned from the international break looking to restart their unbeaten home run, as victory came at the expense of Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United, after the Blues sent the approximately 7,700-odd travelling fans back across the Pennines frustrated with their sides’ performance.
Tony Mowbray made 4 alterations to his starting 11, from the side that had beaten Bolton Wanderers, exactly 2 weeks ago. Amari’i Bell, Corry Evans, Richie Smallwood and Adam Armstrong all came in to the starting line-up, as they replaced Derrick Williams, Jack Rodwell, Joe Rothwell and Kasey Palmer, who all respectively, dropped to the bench.
With the Sky Sports cameras in place, and the pre-match formalities taken care of, the game was started as Rovers looked to make it back-to-back wins, following their pre-international break victory, over Bolton Wanderers.
Despite all of the hype behind Leeds’ performances this season, and their stellar backing, Rovers showed that they were no slouches, as Danny Graham gave Mowbray’s side a quick lead, inside the first 2 minutes of the game. Adam Armstrong used his pace to get beyond Stuart Dallas, who was filling in at right-back for the visitors. Armstrong’s burst forwards saw Rovers earn succession of corners, which eventually led to the opening goal. The second corner, which came from the right-hand side, near the Jack Walker Stand, was crossed in by Harrison Reed, and nodded into the top-right hand corner of Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s goal, by Danny Graham. With the 8,000-odd Leeds fans behind the goal, in disbelief, Rovers’ fans went wild throughout the ground, as their side took an early lead.
On the 8th minute, after Leeds had had a corner cleared, Adam Armstrong once again used his pace to good effect as he crafted open a shooting opportunity, after cutting inside from the left. The forward’s cut inside saw him line up a shot on the edge of the area, however his attempt was soon blocked and subsequently cleared.
3 minutes after Armstrong’s attempt, David Raya was called into action, as he did well to deny Samuel Saiz from the edge of the area.
Rovers, by the 13th minute, nearly doubled their lead through playmaker, Bradley Dack, however some brilliant goalkeeping by Peacock-Farrell, saw Rovers’ talisman denied. Armstrong combined well with Dack as the latter was played through on goal. Dack found himself with only Peacock-Farrell to beat but decided against a chipped effort and preferred to try and round the ‘keeper, which subsequently allowed Leeds’ defenders to get back and put Dack off. Although Dack was pressurised, he managed to release a shot which the Leeds goalkeeper did well to stop.
10 minutes after Dack’s chance, Richie Smallwood had one of his own, as he tried a hopeful – but ultimately weak – volley from inside the area, which saw Peacock-Farrell comfortably claim.
Soon after Smallwood’s attempt, Dack looked to capitalise on a poor Peacock-Farrell clearance, which had fell straight into Dack’s path. The midfielder didn’t think twice before hitting a shot which never looked to have been heading in.
On the 44th minute and with half-time looming, Adam Armstrong nearly gave Rovers a 2-goal advantage heading into the head, but his dipping effort didn’t dip enough, as the ball ended up over the crossbar. After once again running Stuart Dallas ragged, Armstrong activated his patented move of cutting inside onto his right-foot and shooting. Unfortunately for the forward, however, his 2-game goal drought looked set to continue, as the ball didn’t have enough dip to take it beyond the visiting shot-stopper.
As 1 minute of added time was called for, by referee Darren England, Leeds rallied themselves and found the back of the net, in a move that would have no doubt, deflated Rovers during the interval. Samuel Saiz’s accurate lob forwards saw Rovers’ midfield completely taken out of the game, as the pass fell to the feet of Gaetano Berardi, who was deemed to have been onside. The Swiss defender wasted no time in laying the ball back across the near-empty box for Mateusz Klich, who only had to put the ball into the empty half of Raya’s net, to equalise, which he duly did, as the 7,717 Leeds fans went wild in the Darwen End.
As soon as the ball made its way back to the centre-circle, half-time was blown, which saw Rovers mere seconds away from entering the break with the lead.
During the interval, Tony Mowbray would have had mixed emotions regarding the first-half that he had just witnessed. On the one hand, his side had done well to, not only take the lead early on from a set-piece, but also to withstand the pressure and trickery that Leeds imposed on Rovers. On the other hand, he would have no doubt been frustrated with the late goal that they had conceded, specifically down to the fact that Saiz was not closed down as he entered Rovers’ half.
In the adjacent dressing room, Marcelo Bielsa would have been fuming as a result of his players conceding so early from a set-piece. Although they had managed to get themselves back into the tie during the additional minutes at the end of the first period, the Argentinian would have been annoyed due to his side’s lack of quality in the final third, throughout the majority of the first-half.
The second-half was restarted with 7,717 Leeds fans roaring their team on, as the players tried to use their large backing to their advantage.
A couple of minutes into the second period, saw Richie Smallwood go into referee Darren England’s book, after the midfielder left his mark on Samuel Saiz, as the Spaniard tried to counter-attack.
With Leeds’ tails up, they began piling the pressure onto Rovers during the opening 10 or so minutes of the half, but ultimately couldn’t find their way through Rovers’ organisation.
By the 57th minute, Tony Mowbray made his first change of the game as he introduced Jack Rodwell for Richie Smallwood, in order to bolster his midfield with more energy, plus the added incentive of Rodwell not being on a yellow card, which allowed the former Manchester City man to tackle in ways that Smallwood could no longer do.
6 minutes after his first change, Tony Mowbray introduced Ben Brereton for Danny Graham, after the forward had indicated that he was having a back issue.
Following the change, Kemar Roofe found himself in the book after he brought down Bradley Dack on the edge of the Leeds box. During the interval, Harrison Reed departed and was replaced by Craig Conway in Rovers’ final substitution of the game.
The subsequent free-kick by Adam Armstrong was cleared out for a corner which Craig Conway went over to take. The Scot’s first touch of the game, assisted Darragh Lenihan, as the Irishman nodded Rovers back into the lead with his first goal of the season.
Leeds retaliated immediately after the goal, by making a double substitution. Pablo Hernandez came on in-place of Kemar Roofe, whilst Jack Clarke was brought on to replace Stuart Dallas.
On the 77th minute, Dack came agonisingly close to making it 3-1, after he connected with Craig Conway’s free-kick. Conway crossed in a chest-height ball towards the near-post which Dack identified. The playmakers’ cheeky side-foot, unfortunately for the Blues, had too much on it, as Leeds were awarded a goal-kick.
Minutes later, some good pressure by Rovers saw Adam Armstrong try to increase his side’s lead as he broke away from Berardi, before powering a shot at goal. Luckily for Leeds, their afternoon wasn’t to get any worse, as Peacock-Farrell produced a fine save to deny the former Newcastle United man.
As the clocked ticked down to the 85th minute, Klich tried to get his side back level with an accurate attempt at goal from just inside Rovers’ box. Thankfully for Tony Mowbray, David Raya was alert as the Spaniard did spectacularly to jump across his goal and tip the ball over the bar for a corner, which eventually came to nothing.
Leeds’ final substitution saw Jamie Shackleton replace Gaetano Berardi, as Bielsa through everyone, bar Peacock-Farrell and Pontus Jansson forwards, as they searched for an equaliser.
As the 90th minute approached, both Corry Evans and Jack Rodwell were booked for separate incidents, whilst Adam Armstrong was names the club sponsor’s Man of the Match.
After 5 minutes of added time were called for, which saw Rovers fall under immense pressure from Leeds’ wide players, the final whistle finally blew which saw relief reverberate around Ewood Park after the Rovers supporters had known that they had beaten a side who had not lost on the road this season, prior to today.
The excitement surrounding this game certainly lived up to the pre-match expectations, as despite the Leeds fans not being as vocal as they usually are, they provided the inspiration for Rovers to go out and perform in the manner which they did. Additionally, the positive use of set-pieces by Rovers is something which will no doubt please Tony Mowbray, as it was clear to see that the techniques which they had worked on in training, had clearly worked.
As Rovers were the early kick-off, by 2pm on Saturday, they had moved up to 5th, with 21 points and a goal difference of 0, from their 13 games played. With the rest of the fixtures being done by 8pm – which is the time of writing this – Rovers’ position in the table has taken a slight hit, with them dropping down to 7th, however they find themselves only 4 points off joint leaders, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United.
Rovers’ post-international break competitive fixture list continues with back-to-back away trips at former Premier League sides. First up for Mowbray’s men, are Graham Potter’s Swansea City, at the Liberty Stadium, on Tuesday 23rd October, with kick-off set to be at 7:45pm. After that, the Blues travel down to West Bromwich Albion – a side Mowbray is very familiar with, having led them to the Championship title, over a decade ago. The clash with the Baggies is on Saturday 27th October, at 3pm. Once the trips to the former top tier sides are complete, Rovers return to Ewood on 3rd November as they host Queens Park Rangers at 3pm.
