Rovers were again on the end of a defeat, after Norwich City extended their lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship table to three points, as the Canaries overcame Rovers’ ambitious pressing to claim a hard-fought victory against a Rovers side, whose performance arguably deserved more than they got.
Despite Rovers’ seven-game unbeaten run coming to an end at the hands of Bristol City, on Wednesday, after the Robins narrowly edged the tie 1-0, Tony Mowbray only made one alteration from the game in midweek, as Darragh Lenihan came back to skipper the side, to replace Daniel Ayala. Among the starters, there were for three of starters as Bradley Johnson was making his 500th club career start, against his former side. Derrick Williams was making his 250th career league appearance, whilst Joe Rothwell hit 50 starts in the Blue and White halves.
After both sides emerged from the tunnel and completed the necessary pre-match formalities, the kick-off was won by Rovers, as the home side were looking to try and get back to winning ways, in a tough fixture, after not tasting victory for the past two games.
Rovers started the brighter of the two sides, as they managed to fashion two attempts at goal inside the opening 8 minutes. The first attempt saw Sam Gallagher rise highest to connect with Barry Douglas’ corner, but the forward’s near-post attempt was brilliantly denied by the Northern Ireland international goalkeeper, Michael McGovern, who produced a top reaction save. The second chance came courtesy of Liverpool loanee, Harvey Elliott. The home side worked the ball out wide to the winger, who needed no second invitation to cut inside and shoot, but unlike his effort against Millwall, this effort veered narrowly wide.
Norwich’s first half-chance of the tie came after 14 minutes when Mario Vrančić’s ball found Josh Martin. The 19-year old midfielder did well to wriggle through some Rovers bodies, after flicking the ball over the head of Ryan Nyambe, but the former Arsenal trainee was eventually crowded out before he could get a clean strike, as Rovers blocked the weak effort.
The 17th minute nearly saw Derrick Williams cost his side a goal, as he gave the ball away to Teemu Pukki on halfway. The Fin used his pace to burst away from Williams, but a combination of Lenihan and his defensive partner backtracking, forced Pukki into an early chip shot, which Thomas Kaminski gathered with ease.
Harvey Elliott tried to turn provider, a minute after Pukki’s attempt, as he delivered in a cross towards Gallagher, but the forward mistimed his jump and couldn’t angle his nod on target.
The opening goal of the game soon graced the game, but sadly it came the way of the hosts, as Teemu Pukki managed to bag on his 100th Norwich appearance. A Norwich corner saw the ball worked back out to Alexander Tettey, who was in a crossing position. The Norwegian twisted and turned before sliding the ball into Pukki, who did well to control the fizzed pass, before turning and firing the ball past Kaminski, at his near-post, as the Canaries took a 1-0 lead after 22 minutes.
Rovers weren’t going to lie down and let Norwich run away with the game, however, as they managed to fashion a chance, just two minutes after the restart. A short corner made its way into the feet of Joe Rothwell, but the midfielder couldn’t keep his effort low, as he hit the back of the Darwen End.
Pukki was once again afforded a chance at goal, on the 34th minute, yet his effort lacked the conviction of his previous attempt, as this one was dragged wide of the mark.
From Kaminski’s goal-kick, Rovers got up the field and worked the ball out to Joe Rothwell. The midfielder’s cross into the box was hesitantly punched away by McGovern, into the path of Bradley Johnson who heard a shout from Harvey Elliott. The experienced midfielder left the ball for the youngster whose effort veered wide of the mark.
On the 36th minute, Josh Martin was threaded beyond Rovers’ defence by Max Aarons, but Kaminski was on-hand to smartly deny the shot, after closing the angle.
Norwich soon regained the ball after Rovers cleared the ball following Kaminski’s save, and they managed to craft further chances that nearly brought them within inches of doubling their lead. The attacking full-backs of Norwich stretched Rovers, before the ball was pulled back to Pukki who hit the crossbar with his effort. The ball dropped kindly for Jacob Sørensen, but Kaminski was again on-hand to deny the Norwegian. The hectic attack didn’t end there, as Pukki’s effort from the rebound flew over the bar.
Norwich did manage to get the ball into the back of the net, for a second time, on the 43rd minute, but Oliver Skipp’s pass into the net was ruled out, after the Tottenham Hotspur loanee was flagged for offside.
After referee Dean Whitestone added on two extra minutes onto the end of the half, which produced no goalmouth action, the man in the middle called for an end to the first-half which, produced a plethora of chances, despite there only being one goal.
During the half-time team talk, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray would have been rather cautiously critical of his side. Despite doing well going forwards, the side had at times, been sloppy in possession and underwhelming defensively, especially given the manner of the Pukki goal. The gaffer would have been outlining his plans for the second period, whilst also being wary enough to inform his players that they had to try and deny Norwich a second, which could potentially prove to be the killer.
Daniel Farke, in the away changing room, would have been equally cautious, but with a more positive outlook than his opposite number. The German would have been quick to praise his side’s intensity, both going forwards and defensively, whilst also reminding his side of the threat that Rovers pose, given they were the league’s top scoring side, ahead of kick-off.
The second-half was soon started by Teemu Pukki, as Norwich City were looking to get the win at Ewood Park, that would re-open their three point cushion at the top of the table, ahead of the league new leading goalscorers, Bournemouth who occupied second spot, at the break.
Rovers started the second-half as brightly as they did the first, as Sam Gallagher had the first chance of the second period, like he did, at the start of the first period. Some good interplay by Rovers saw Holtby feed Gallagher, after Armstrong dummied the pass. Gallagher then tried his luck from just outside the box with a thunderous drive, but unfortunately his effort crashed back off the crossbar as Norwich remained ahead.
The 50th minute saw Bradley Johnson come narrowly close to notching against his former side. A Rothwell free-kick was flicked towards Johnson, but the midfielder’s header lacked the power required to beat McGovern, as the ‘keeper held the nod.
60 seconds later, Rovers continued their early dominance through Holtby. The German did well to take bring the ball down on his chest before volleying towards goal from about 20-yards out, but McGovern was again alert enough to deny, with a solid palm away to his right-hand side.
On the 59th minute, Harvey Elliott’s individual quality managed to pull Rovers level, after he produced an almost Lionel Messi-like goal, to even the scoring at 1-1. The loanee picked the ball up on the right-hand side, before cutting in onto his left-foot. He used his close control dribbling to skip past one, before nutmegging another and finishing the move off with a fine low finesse drive that ricocheted into the goal off the arm of McGovern, as Rovers wheeled away in celebration of the equaliser.
A few moments later, Harvey Elliott again tried his luck with strike from 25-yards, but McGovern this time, denied the loanee.
Rovers’ revival only turned out to be short-lived, as Norwich soon reasserted their dominance by retaking the lead, only six minutes after relinquishing it. Some lacklustre clearing by Rovers saw Emi Buendía pick the ball up around 30-yards out and try his luck from range. The low drive, which was aimed towards a crowd of bodies, saw Pukki divert it towards goal as it trickled into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, after Thomas Kaminski was left wrongfooted and stranded. Although the finish seemed pretty lucky, nobody was going to take Pukki’s 50th Norwich goal away from him, as his instinctive flick put his team back ahead at 2-1.
Straight from the goal, Norwich made a double change which saw Todd Cantwell and Kenny McLean introduced, as Josh Martin and Mario Vrančić departed.
On the 72nd minute, Barry Douglas tried his luck from a close free-kick, but the full-back’s effort didn’t have the required dip to trouble McGovern, as it looped over the bar.
Just prior to McGovern’s goal-kick, Tony Mowbray played his hand with a triple change from a possible five available. John Buckley, Jacob Davenport and Stewart Downing all came on, with Lewis Holtby, Joe Rothwell and Bradley Johnson all making way.
The 84th minute brought the game’s first and only booking, as the Norwich City goalscorer, Teemu Pukki was booked for a late challenge.
The game soon quietened down with both sides battling for possession, until the 87th minute when Adam Armstrong broke through. The forward managed to wriggle and turn his man before trying to replicate Pukki’s first-half finish, by releasing an effort towards the near-post. Sadly, for Armstrong, he couldn’t do what the Fin did, as McGovern again proved his worth to the Canaries by denied the Blue’s top scorer.
Norwich managed to get the ball up the other end quickly after the McGovern save, as Pukki and Cantwell combined for the latter to take aim. Although a third would have surely killed the game for Rovers, Kaminski did well to deny Cantwell’s first-time effort with a save via his legs, as he kept Rovers’ little hopes of snatching another late equaliser, alive.
That part in Cantwell’s effort proved to be Pukki’s final act of the game, as he was soon replaced by Jordan Hugill.
As the 90th minute ticked over, referee Dean Whitestone added on five additional minutes onto the end of the game, as Rovers looked to try and ramp up the pressure, late on.
In the third minute of added time, Norwich made their fifth and final change of the game, as they threw on Marco Stiepermann for Emi Buendía.
The final chance of the game, which came in the 94th minute saw Barry Douglas miss a crucial chance to potentially give Rovers a vital point. After a scramble in the penalty area, the ball dropped for Douglas who tried a half-volley but sliced his effort over the bar.
The final chance of the game saw Norwich hit Rovers on the counter. Stiepermann, Hugill and Cantwell stampeded towards goal, as Williams, Lenihan and Douglass were nowhere to be seen. Despite the Norwich barrage, in the closing stages, Kaminski somehow manage to deny the Canaries a third goal, as the full-time whilst swiftly came seconds after the Belgian’s fine save.
Whilst a lot can be said about the previous few performances that Rovers have put in, the end result of one point from a possible nine is something that cannot be ignored. Although it’s still way too early to turn things into a ‘doom and gloom’ session, Rovers fans know all too well how bad things can get, if a lack of results aren’t nipped in the bud quickly, with the latter part of the 2018-19 season being a prime example of that. Saying that, however, the performances on paper, excluding the final results, have been rather promising, with the Brentford draw, arguably being the worst performance of the past three games, despite that being the only one Rovers have got something from. Whether it’s a case of fatigue and the style of play ‘catching up’ to the side, one thing’s for sure is that the returns from injury that Rovers are expecting to have over the next couple of weeks will be vital in shaping the squad’s shape and mentality until the end of the campaign.
Following Rovers’ second successive defeat, they’re left stranded in 12th place, exactly halfway up in the league table. After playing 18 games, they find themselves with 25 points and a positive goal-difference of +10, with the gap to the playoffs now extended to six points.
Next on the agenda for Rovers is another home game, this time against Rotherham United, on Wednesday 16th December at 7:45pm. After that tie, the side are back on the road, as they travel to face Stoke City in the Midlands on Saturday 19th December at 3pm. Following that trip, the traditional Boxing Day fixture will see the side spend their festivities in an empty Ewood Park, as they welcome Sheffield Wednesday at 3pm, for the festive fixture.
