A game which almost had everything saw Rovers snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, as Luton Town fought back from two-goals down to salvage a point at Ewood Park.
After Rovers headed into the two-week international break off the back of their 1-1 draw away at Middlesbrough in late August, Tony Mowbray has come into September with three changes to the side who last played in Blue and White. Ryan Nyambe, John Buckley and Tyrhys Dolan all return, as the suspended Hayden Carter and injured Ian Poveda both drop to the bench. The third departure from the side was Leighton Clarkson, who was rotated to the bench. Following a busy end to the transfer window, new loanee from Brighton and Hove Albion, Reda Khadra was available from the bench, but his fellow Seagulls loanee, Jan Paul van Hecke and new permanent addition, Tayo Edun, were both unavailable due to injury. Ben Brereton Díaz was available for Rovers after his FIFA ban was overturned after the Chilean FA withdrew their complaint, after Rovers failed to release the player to the ‘red-list’ nation.
As both sides made their way out to the pitch, it was Blackburn Rovers who won referee Oliver Langford’s coin toss, as John Buckley got the game underway.
A bright start for Rovers saw Ben Brereton Díaz speed into the box and fall under the pressure of a challenge, yet the man in the middle, waved play on, as the home crowd jeered in annoyance.
In the 8th minute, Blues skipper, Darragh Lenihan was very fortunate not be given an early bath as, despite winning the ball, his follow-through on Allan Campbell forced Mr. Langford into a decision which could have seen Rovers’ face the rest of the game with 10 men, but the captain was only given a yellow.
Moments after play resumed, Brereton Díaz saw space open up ahead of him as he dropped his shoulder and tried his luck from distance, but his effort landed with the Luton supporters in the Darwen End stand.
Two minutes later, the impact of Lenihan’s challenge saw Luton forced into an early substitution as former Arsenal midfielder, Henri Lansbury replaced Allan Campbell.
In the 14th minute, Harry Cornick came close to putting the visitors ahead. After a fine passage of play where Luton got themselves through Rovers’ midfield, before breaking in-behind the backline, a low cross across the face of the goal saw Cornick latch onto the delivery, but the 26-year-old failed to keep his effort on target.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 27th minute as Rovers hit Luton on the break and made their opportunity count. John Buckley fed Ryan Nyambe from deep, as the Namibian made a brilliant gut-busting run down the right before finding Tyrhys Dolan with a low cross. The young winger did well to control the ball before releasing a first-time effort which wrong-footed Simon Sluga and nestled into the back of the net as Rovers went 1-0 up.
Four minutes later, Rovers doubled their advantage in brilliant fashion as another lovely team move saw Harry Pickering notch his first goal in Rovers colours. Ben Brereton Díaz did well to link up with the full-back before the Chilean held off a defender prior to sliding Pickering in who did brilliantly to release a left-footed effort off-balance, past the Croat Sluga as Rovers doubled their lead at 2-0, with Pickering’s first ever Rovers goal.
In the 36th minute, Kal Naismith was booked after hauling down Sam Gallagher.
The 44th minute could have seen Rovers grab a third before the end of the half, as a counter-attack from a Luton corner saw Rothwell, Dolan and Brereton Díaz combine, but the Chilean’s shot was well blocked by the defence.
As half-time approached, referee Oliver Langford added two extra minutes onto the end of the first period, but they were not needed as neither side managed to create in added time.
Tony Mowbray would have been delighted with his side’s display, both in possession of the ball and on the counter-attack as they managed to breach Luton on the break numerous times. Although the game started slowly for Rovers as they looked quite shaky, they managed to weather the early Luton storm and stamp their mark on the game with two well-worked goals. The boss would have been encouraging his team to focus on trying to keep a clean-sheet in order to keep the pressure off them, particularly during the closing stages of the tie where Luton might up the tempo.
Luton Town manager Nathan Jones would have been pulling his hair out at the break. Disregarding the fact his side were two goals down at the break, they had been handed two early blows as Admiral Muskwe was ruled out of the game pre-match with an injury he picked up in the warm-up, before Allan Campbell was taken off after 10 minutes with another injury. Although Jones felt Lenihan should have been sent off for the foul on Campbell, he would have been composing his side in order for them to try and revive themselves in this encounter.
Just prior to the start of the second period, Luton made their second substitution of the game as Sonny Bradley replaced Dan Potts for the second-half.
After the 15-minute break, the teams returned for the second-half as Luton got proceedings back underway.
Three minutes into the second period, Tyrhys Dolan broke down the right and tried to cut inside, but the winger was soon booked for simulation. That decision triggered a melee and a succession of bookings as Simon Sluga and Ben Brereton Díaz tangled with the forward looking to get the ‘keeper in trouble. As a result, both ended up in the referee’s book.
Following the Luton free-kick, Cameron Jerome was booked in the 50th minute for challenging Lewis Travis in the air, just inside the Rovers half.
Five minute later, Jerome thought he’d celebrated his booking by getting Luton back into the game as his header from just outside the six-yard box looped over Thomas Kaminski and nestled into the back of the Rovers net. After wheeling away in celebration, the game was called back as the goal was disallowed for a foul by Jerome on Daniel Ayala, albeit a soft one.
In the 58th minute, Brereton Díaz came agonisingly close to making it 3-0. Some fine play down the right saw Ryan Nyambe find Tyrhys Dolan who subsequently found the Chilean. Brereton Díaz took a touch to make space for himself before trying to find the far corner, but the effort rebounded off the post.
Moments later, the seventh yellow card of the game was shown to Gabriel Osho who triggered another melee after a poor tackle on Travis.
Luton’s final change of the game saw Luke Berry replace Carlos Mendes Gomes.
The 61st minute saw Henri Lansbury become Luton’s fifth booked player, after another poor challenge.
Six minutes after Lansbury’s challenge, Sam Gallagher was also booked in a game that was turning more into a Royal Rumble than a football fixture.
Luton broke away in the 70th minute, as Darragh Lenihan was caught out on halfway, much to Daniel Ayala’s annoyance. The visitors broke away in a 2-on-1 situation as Cornick and Jerome came up against Ayala. The winger fed the former Norwich City striker who only had Thomas Kaminski to beat, but the big Belgian did amazingly well to deny the veteran forward, with his legs, as Rovers kept their clean-sheet intact.
The 72nd minute saw Luton craft a lifeline as Luke Berry prodded home from yards out. Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu did well to burst down the right and put in a cross from the byline, as Berry stretched to make contact with the ball under-pressure from Ryan Nyambe. Despite the Namibian’s pressure, Berry connected with the ball which bounced over the head of the kneeled Kaminski, as the arrears were reduced to 2-1.
Straight after the goal, Rovers made their first change of the afternoon as Jacob Davenport replaced John Buckley.
Rovers’ second change came in the 80th minute as Tyler Magloire replaced Joe Rothwell, with Rovers changing their system to a 5-2-1-2, with Dolan slotting in behind Gallagher and Brereton Díaz.
Four minutes after the change, Ryan Nyambe was a glove away from grabbing his first goal in Rovers colours and sealing the victory for the home side. After some good play by Rovers, the full-back picked up the ball and cut inside on his left-foot before trying to find the bottom left-hand corner of the net, but Sluga did well to see and track the ball through a crowd of bodies, before palming the ball away from goal with a strong right-handed save.
The 87th minute saw Ruddock-Mpanzu try and salvage a late draw, but the midfielder’s effort from the edge of the area ballooned over the bar.
As Oliver Langford called for an extra five minutes for added time, a bizarre incident occurred as the match official went down with an injury, much to the delight of the two teams and the crowd who burst out into a chorus of ‘You’re not fit to referee!’. After a lengthy stoppage, where the fourth official came on to replace the original official, game was restarted.
Rovers should have killed Luton off in added time as Brereton Díaz and Gallagher both had chances to make it 3-1. The first attempt came to Brereton Díaz who did brilliantly well in order to break away from the Luton defence before being denied by Sluga. Gallagher came for the rebound, but he also couldn’t find the net under pressure from the retreating defenders who got a block in.
Those chances came back to haunt Rovers, as after Luton regained possession, they broke forward and got their equaliser as Luke Berry grabbed a brace which sparked scenes of delight in the away end. A high ball into the box saw Cameron Jerome use his power and experience to win the ball and provide Berry with a knockdown. The substitute came steamrolling in late, into the area, and despite pressure from Tyler Magloire, did enough to extend his leg and poke the ball past a furious Thomas Kaminski for the game’s final act, as he made it 2-2.
The game didn’t last long after kick-off as the tie was ended, much to the frustration of the home crowd who were forced to dwell on the collapse they had witnessed.
Although the start to the season has been very impressive, given the state of the squad, this game has to be chalked down as an ‘opportunity missed’. Rovers have once again not learnt from their mistakes as despite conceding so late on, they failed to make any of the chances they had, prior to the goal, count with those of Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton Díaz springing to mind. Although Rovers will need to learn quickly, despite their young squad, they showed glimpses of what they were capable of, despite the ultimately disappointing end to the game.
After an eventful day in the Championship, the table sees Rovers stuck in 9th place, with nine points and a positive goal-difference of +1.
Next up for Rovers is a midweek clash at home to Hull City on Tuesday 14th September at 7:45pm. Following that encounter, Rovers travel to Yorkshire to face Barnsley at Oakwell on Saturday 18th September at 3pm. After those two Wars of the Roses are complete, Cardiff City are the visitors to East Lancashire on Saturday 25th September at 3pm.
