Rovers’ second game back in action following the COVID-19 suspension, ended in defeat as a well-drilled Wigan Athletic side gained three valuable points at the DW Stadium to put a dent in Rovers’ playoff charge, and boost their own chances of safety in the Sky Bet Championship, for next season.
Prior to the clash, Tony Mowbray made two enforced changes to the side that came from behind to beat Bristol City, 3-1 at Ewood Park. Corry Evans and Joe Rankin-Costello were both withdrawn due to foot and hamstring injuries, respectively. In their place came Joe Rothwell and Ryan Nyambe, with Elliott Bennett making the switch over from right-back, to left-back, due to the defensive duo of Derrick Williams and Amari’i Bell remaining injured. There was a milestone within the Rovers ranks as Sam Gallagher secured his 100th club career starts, with 67 of those starts coming in the Blue and White halves of Rovers, over two separate spells at the club.
Just prior to the kick-off, as with all the games after the restart, a moment of silence was observed to respect those who have sadly lost their life as a result of COVID-19.
The game, like the weather, failed to excite as it took nine minutes for the clash to yield a sniff at goal, as the rain bucketed down at the DW. The inaugural chance of the game fell to Kieffer Moore, of the home side after he capitalised on some poor play by Rovers’ out-of-place captain, Elliott Bennett. The winger-turned-left-back conceded possession inside his own half, which allowed Moore to capitalise and carry the ball before releasing a hard drive that, luckily for Bennett, skewed wide of the mark, as Moore missed a glorious opportunity to give Wigan an early lead.
Rovers’ first chance to make Athletic ‘keeper David Marshall work for his salary, came just after the game’s first drinks break, which was on the 24th minute. A foul on the edge of the Wigan penalty area after 28 minutes saw Joe Rothwell volunteer to take the set-piece to try and grab his first league goal of the season. Despite the prime position for the free-kick, Rothwell’s effort came within inches of giving Rovers the lead as it ended up on the roof of the net, with the shot lacking the necessary dip needed to force a save out of Marshall.
A more promising attack occurred after 31 minutes as Ryan Nyambe showed his pace and power down the right-hand side, as he burst past a few Wigan defenders, before making his way into the penalty area after some stupendous step-overs. The Namibian international continued his outstanding run as he cut inside, before looking favourite to wind-up a left-footed drive, yet the move ended differently, as Lewis Holtby took over and tried to catch Marshall off-guard with a first-time effort. Sadly, for Rovers, Nyambe’s hard work didn’t result in Rovers taking the lead as Holtby’s snapshot resulted in a comfortable save for Marshall.
The 42nd minute saw the best chance of the game thus far, materialise for the hosts. Jamal Lowe used his quick feet to ease past Darragh Lenihan in the penalty area, before trying to round Christian Walton for a tap-in. Luckily for Rovers, they had managed to regroup in time, forcing Lowe to run into a crowd of bodies before referee Darren England halted play for a Rovers’ free-kick, after it was judged that the Wigan attacker had handled the ball.
Two minutes later, Rovers had another free-kick which gave Stewart Downing the opportunity to give Rovers the lead heading into half-time. Despite the effort being a low one aimed towards the opposite corner where Marshall was stood, the Scot did well to cover the ground and concede a corner – which the hosts dealt with – rather than a goal.
After a rather dreary opening 45 minutes, the first period was ended after a solidary minute of added time was allocated.
The half-time messages in the respective dressing rooms would have been rather consistent for both sides, given the manner in which the first-half played out.
Paul Cook would have been pleased with the way his side had limited Rovers to just set-pieces. The experienced manager, who has guided Wigan to 21 points from a possible 30 in their last ten games, including pre-lockdown, would have been quick to encourage his players and praise them for the way they had controlled the ball in the early stages, but would have been wary to remind them that Rovers were capable of shifting into another gear if things were to fall their way and out of Wigan’s hands.
In the away dressing room, Tony Mowbray would have been slightly more agitated than Cook, given how easy Wigan had broken through Rovers’ backline. The gaffer would have been constructively criticising his side, given their lack of nous in-front of goal. Mowbray would have been also been potentially eyeing up his bench, with some thoughts brewing that he could potentially make a change to freshen up Rovers’ attacking impetus in the second-half.
Soon after the game was back underway, Rovers crafted the first opportunity of the half through a combination of Elliott Bennett, Stewart Downing and Sam Gallagher. Bennett did well to burst forward down the left before teeing up Downing for a cross from deep which the veteran aimed towards the head of Gallagher. The forward did well to position himself in the right place to get on the end of the cross, yet, despite getting ahead of his man, his nod lacked the accuracy to test David Marshall as the ball looped over the bar and behind for a goal-kick.
On the 50th minute, Sam Morsy tried his luck from range, but narrowly saw his effort zip past Walton and the post, as Rovers were spared from going behind to a long-ranged effort.
The 56th minute saw Paul Cook use one of his five allocated changes, as former Sheffield United midfielder Lee Evans was brought on to replace Blackburn-born midfielder, Anthony Pilkington.
Downing had another bite of the cherry on the 63rd minute when another free-kick materialised. The 35-year old changed his approach from his previous effort, as aimed at the ‘keeper’s side, rather than the free area of the goal. Despite his change of tac, Downing couldn’t put Rovers on the scoresheet as his effort whistled wide.
During the break in play before the goal-kick, Tony Mowbray made a triple change as Bradley Johnson, Dominic Samuel and Adam Armstrong all came on for Lewis Holtby, Lewis Travis and Sam Gallagher.
Adam Armstrong and Dominic Samuel’s impact were immediate as only four minutes after coming on, the pair combined for Rovers’ best chance of the game. Armstrong used his pace and fresh legs to break down the left and race away from his marker, before delivering a low, inviting ball towards the near-post. Unfortunately, Samuel couldn’t earn Armstrong an assist for his brilliant play as the ball flashed just inches ahead of Samuel’s outstretched leg as it flashed across the face of goal, leaving Samuel and the Wigan defenders and ‘keeper in a heap.
Armstrong again showed his quality in off the left-flank as he got himself on the end of Ryan Nyambe’s cross. The full-back received a ball from Downing before galloping past one-time AC Milan target, Antonee Robinson. The run ended with a cross towards the back-post that Armstrong failed to direct downwards towards goal, as it ballooned over the crossbar, harmlessly.
In the 73rd and 79th minutes, respectively, both sides made alterations, given the new substitution rule. Wigan were first, with their second change of the game as former Wolverhampton Wanderers winger, Michael Jacobs came on to replace Everton loanee, Kieran Dowell. Rovers’ fourth change of the game, six minutes later, saw Danny Graham replace Ben Brereton for the final ten minutes of the game.
On the 80th minute, it seemed as if Paul Cook’s first change had paid dividends as Lee Evans managed to put his side ahead after some calamitous Rovers defending. Rovers failed to clear the ball as Joe Williams pickpocketed Bradley Johnson and fired it out to the overlapping Robinson. The American full-back wasted no time in getting a cross in which seemingly looked as if Walton had claimed. Unfortunately for Rovers, the ‘keeper collided with Kieffer Moore and Tosin Adarabioyo and dropped the ball straight to the feet of Lee Evans who controlled the ball superbly on his knee before lashing the ball past Johnson and Lenihan, who were on the line, and into the roof of the net to give Wigan the lead at 1-0.
Rovers came close to replying just minutes later through Samuel, but Marshall did well to deny the substitute his second goal of the season. A cross from the left-hand side from Bennett landed perfectly for Samuel to head towards goal, yet Marshall was on-hand to superbly tip the ball over the bar and keep his side in the lead during the closing stages of the game.
Although Rovers couldn’t craft a worthy opportunity from the corner, their final change occurred before it was taken as Jacob Davenport came on to replace Joe Rothwell for the final seven minutes.
Wigan centre-half Cédric Kipré soon became the first and only player to be booked by referee Darren England after he brought down Adam Armstrong in the 90th minute.
As the game became ‘attack vs defence’ as Rovers tried to break down Wigan’s stubborn defence, it was announced that four extra minutes would be added onto the end of the game, which gave Rovers hope of salvaging a draw, or better.
The 92nd minute saw Wigan use the third of their five allowed subs as another Blackburn-born player in Joe Garner entered the fray, replacing Kieffer Moore for the closing stages.
It was a game of substitutes for Paul Cook and his men as the second player Wigan introduced, Michael Jacobs, settled the game in the 94th minute after a well-worked counter-attack. Rovers had committed too many men forwards, including defender Tosin Adarabioyo, and were caught out on the break after Joe Williams’ hasty clearance upfield fell perfectly for Michael Jacobs who was lurking on halfway. The winger slowed down his run and left the only player back, in Stewart Downing, in a tangle as he struck a low drive towards the near-post that left Walton for dead, as Jacobs wheeled away in celebration of the goal that killed the game at 2-0.
That goal proved to be the last action of the game as Rovers went down to two super-subs in a move that Wigan fans will probably label as ‘tactical genius’ from their manager. Although it seems like ‘one step forward, two steps back’ after this defeat from a Rovers perspective, it’s important to look at the bigger picture and the other results from today, most of which went in Rovers’ favour. Sadly for Rovers and their fans, they will have to wait another year to break their DW Stadium hoodoo, with the last away win at Wigan coming 11 attempts ago, on New Year’s Day 2007, where an Emile Heskey own goal, Matt Derbyshire’s first for the club and a Benni McCarthy penalty saw Rovers emerge from the then-JJB Stadium with a 3-0 win.
In contrast to last week where the team were outstanding after going a goal down, today’s performance was arguably the opposite, with the team lacking the intensity and rhythm required to dismantle a Wigan team in fabulous form. The only positive from this game is arguably the fact that Rovers are back in action in a few days’ time, as they come up against relegation threatened Barnsley on Tuesday.
Despite some favourable results across the league, Rovers have dropped two places, down to 9th with 59 points and a positive goal difference of seven after 39 games.
As mentioned, Rovers will next be back in action on Tuesday (30th June) at the unusual time of 6pm as they travel to Oakwell to face off against Barnsley. After that, Rovers return home to Ewood Park to welcome Leeds United on Saturday 4th July at 3pm, before Tony Mowbray’s men make the long trip to Wales to play playoff-seeking rivals Cardiff City on Tuesday 7th July at 7:45pm.
