Blackburn Rovers fell to a second successive defeat to a Yorkshire side, despite putting in a hearty, respectable performance, however the Premier League quality of Leeds United proved too much during the 12:30pm kick-off at Ewood Park.
With Rovers looking to bounce back following last Saturday’s surprise 3-1 away defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Jon Dahl Tomasson – who was absent from the dugout after his red card at Hillsborough – named an unchanged team as his stretched squad looked to navigate a hectic festive period. Harry Pickering was chalking up 100 appearances in Blue and White as a celebration for the new contract that he signed during the week. Adam Wharton was also continuing his spell of eight consecutive league starts, which proved why Rovers also gave him a new deal on Friday evening.
As over 7,337 Leeds United fans crammed themselves into a noisy Darwen End, it was their side who got the ball rolling for this Saturday lunchtime affair as they looked to try and notch a sixth win in their last seven games to try and close the gap between themselves and Ipswich Town who played at 3pm.
Despite Leeds’ perceived quality, it was Rovers who started the better of the two teams as they managed to earn numerous successive corners to apply some early pressure, but Leeds were able to withstand the barrage of half-chance.
In the fifth minute, Harry Pickering led a Rovers counter-attack as he looked to pick out the league’s leading scorer and reigning Player of the Month winner for November, Sammie Szmodics, but the offside and outstretched forward failed to connect with the zipping delivery.
Andrew Moran became the first player of the afternoon to be booked by referee Bobby Madley as he conceded a free-kick in a dangerous area, but Joël Piroe’s set-piece was deflected off the wall and behind for a corner which the hosts dealt with.
With 25 minutes gone, Rovers’ overconfidence went to their heads as Leopold Wahlstedt, Hayden Carter and Scott Wharton somehow had a mix-up between them as they conceded possession back to Leeds, but Georginio Rutter couldn’t make Rovers pay for their errors as he missed the target from close-range.
Someone who didn’t miss the target from close-range, however, was Daniel James as the former Manchester United winger grabbed his first career goal against Rovers, as the Welshman capped off a fine counter-attack to put the Whites ahead. From a Rovers corner, the away side counter-attacked down the left with Rutter tiptoeing and side-stepping the challenge from James Hill, before picking out James who came in from the right. The winger shuffled the ball onto his right-foot to create a shooting angle pasted the outstretched leg of Harry Pickering and found the inside of the left-hand post to give Daniel Farke’s men a 1-0 lead after 27 minutes.
Two moments after the restart, there was an appeal for a Rovers penalty after Harry Leonard skipped past Pascal Struijk, but Bobby Madley waved the protestations away.
Just after the half-hour mark, Szmodics and Hill decided to play a cross-field one-two with the result being a header by the top marksman, in similar vein to his goal against the Owls last Saturday, but this time he couldn’t keep it down as it veered wide of the mark.
In the 42nd minute, it was James Hill’s turn to get on the end of a cross, instead of delivering one in, as he latched onto an Adam Wharton corner, but his header also failed to test Illan Meslier.
That header by Hill proved to be the last action of note in the first period, as despite there being a minimum of two minutes latched onto the half, neither side could test their opposition goalkeeper in that time.
After Jon Dahl Tomasson came down from the director’s box where he was presumably watching the game from, he would have been quick to praise his players for their first-half performance, despite coming into the break losing. He would have been encouraged by his side’s attacking movements, particularly on the transition and would have reenforced the idea of sticking to their principles of playing expansive, but exciting football, despite the pressure from those in salmon pink shirts.
Daniel Farke would have also been pleased with Leeds taking a lead, yet he would have arguably been the more nervous of the two managers, given his side held such a marginal advantage. The two-time Championship champion would have wanted his side to remain focussed and push for a second goal that would have arguably killed the game off.
Once the sides returned to the field of play, it was Rovers who restarted the game as they were looking to try and return to grab their first victory in December. Rovers did make their first change at the break, however, as Arnór Sigurðsson came on to replace Harry Leonard for the second 45 minutes.
Just three minutes into the second-half and the entirety of Ewood Park – bar the away stand – were up in arms appealing for a penalty after the ball had seemingly struck the elbow of Pascal Struijk, who had gone down near the byline to slide tackle and intercept Andrew Moran’s cross. Despite the mass protestations, led by skipper Sammie Szmodics, Rovers had to settle for a corner.
In the 58th minute, Moran was looking to create again as he found Callum Brittain, but the advanced full-back’s powerful strike rippled the side-netting, which led to sarcastic cheers from the away end, amidst some real ones in some parts of the home sections.
After much deliberation, Bobby Madley finally decided to book a Leeds player, but for dissent rather than a challenge, as Archie Gray was carded for kicking the ball away after being flagged offside.
Minutes later, Madley was getting into the festive spirit as he handed out another card, this time to Adam Wharton, who had slammed into a tackle with Ethan Ampadu.
With 69 minutes gone, Harry Pickering was again looking to provide from the left-hand side as Rovers looked the more likely team to grab the next goal in the game, but Hayden Carter’s connection with his head saw the ball loop over the bar.
Daniel Farke soon turned to his bench with 20 minutes of the game remaining as he introduced Wilfried Gnonto and Djed Spence as Sam Byram and goalscorer Daniel James departed.
Those changes gave Leeds the impetus to change the momentum of the game as they managed to counter Rovers in the 73rd minute as Gnonto grabbed the ball on the right and thrashed a shot towards the far-post, but Leopold Wahlstedt was alert to make a fantastic save to tip the ball behind for a corner, which Rovers cleared.
Despite clearing the danger, Crysencio Summerville was back again down the left as he tried to assist Piroe, but the Swede in goal was equal to the effort.
What Wahlstedt wasn’t equal to, was Leeds’ second which effectively clinched them the three points as Crysencio Summerville capped off a successful afternoon for the Dutchman and his teammates to put Leeds 2-0 up with 15 minutes left. Archie Gray picked the ball up on the turn just inside the Rovers half and played a one-two with Rutter before slipping Summerville in. Despite the Rovers claims for offside, the winger kept his composure and managed to chip the on-rushing Wahlstedt, despite it looking like it came off the goalkeeper’s ribs before nestling into the back of the net.
In the 79th minute, Hayden Carter was booked after he chopped down Rutter as Leeds continued to surge forwards.
With 10 minutes left, Jon Dahl Tomasson signalled for a double change from above, as Niall Ennis and Jake Garrett replaced Adam Wharton and James Hill – who seemingly trudged off in discomfort – with Callum Brittain reverting to right-back.
Rovers did nearly manage to make a game of it, as in the 82nd minute a Moran corner was met by the head of Sigurðsson, but Meslier was forced to make a fantastic save whilst back-peddling to keep his clean-sheet intact.
In the 83rd minute, Rovers were appealing for another penalty after Ethan Ampadu had seemingly brought down Jake Garrett in the box, but once again the man in black waved play on.
A fourth Rovers change soon came as Dilan Markanday replaced Andrew Moran for the final stages of the tie.
Ethan Ampadu did again manage to get another bite of Jake Garrett, but this proved a step too far in the eyes of Bobby Madley, who gave the ex-Chelsea defender a booking for his troubles.
Despite there being a hefty amount of added time which totalled to seven additional minutes, the final stages of the affair petered out as Rovers looked out on their feet, whilst Leeds proved in no rush to grab a third, as the final whistle soon descended on Ewood Park to a vociferous roar from the away end. The over 7,000 Whites fans then proceeded to celebrate with their players as an already emptying Ewood Park began to clear.
As mentioned on Twitter/X, the performance today showed that we were capable of holding our own – for the majority – against a top side in this division who still have most of their Premier League assets – including the multi-million-pound strikers. Rovers today proved their worth in many departments, however failed in the finishing one, as once again, our Achillies heel reared its ugly head. Despite having more possession and total shots against a side that will – barring a disaster – find itself finishing the season in first or second place, we ultimately fell to costly mistakes and a smidgen more composure that is in the Leeds United camp.
Despite defeat and a few 3pm kick-offs not going Rovers’ way, the table still looks incredibly healthy, although the Blues have now dropped to 9th place in the division – with 28 points and a negative goal-difference of -1 – after 20 games.
Luckily for Rovers, they can quickly put things right with a quick turnaround as they host Bristol City on Tuesday 12th December at Ewood Park at 7:45pm. After that, they make the long trip to Southampton on Saturday 16th December for a 3pm start, before returning home to welcome Watford, seven days later, on Saturday 23rd December (at 3pm) as they kick off a fortnight which will see them head into 2024 playing five games in quick succession.
