Blackburn Rovers lost their first game at Ewood Park against Queens Park Rangers since 1999 as a hostile atmosphere and a 2-1 defeat capped off a tumultuous week for Jon Dahl Tomasson and his players.
Despite earning a place in the FA Cup Fifth Round, after Monday night’s 4-1 victory over Wrexham AFC, Jon Dahl Tomasson – who was silenced by the club’s board ahead of his pre-match press conference – made one change to Monday night’s game as Ben Chrisene replaced Jake Garrett as Rovers reverted from a five-back system, to a 4-2-3-1.
Post-January, Rovers had made moves in the market, with Adam Wharton departing to Crystal Palace in a club-record sale, whilst experienced duo, defender Kyle McFadzean and midfielder, John Fleck were recruited, alongside Liverpool loanee, Billy Koumetio who were all on the bench. Whilst American international striker, Duncan McGuire had been unveiled on social media after his hectic transfer from Orlando City was completed, despite looking like he was going to sign for Sheffield Wednesday, the striker – who was in the stands to watch the game – was not eligible to play, with rumours circulating that Rovers had not completed his documentation prior to the 11pm deadline on Thursday – news the club refused to comment on.
As Rovers walked out, an air of expectancy was around Ewood Park as the supporters anticipated the home side to return to winning ways in the league for the first-time in ten games, against a side sat in the relegation zone. As Ewood filled, it was Sammie Szmodics who got the game started at kick-off as the forward looked to add to his 21 goals that he had already scored this season.
After five minutes, Szmodics was already involved as he found the overlapping Ben Chrisene whose shot from just inside the box flew wide of Asmir Begović’s far-post.
In the 11th minute, Ilias Chair cut inside from the left, onto his deadly right-foot, but his effort was flapped away by Aynsley Pears.
Two minutes later, Reggie Cannon flew forwards and picked out Sinclair Armstrong who failed to tap the ball past Pears’s near-post as it veered the wrong side of the upright.
Rovers looked to swing momentum back in their favour in the 26th minute as Tyrhys Dolan and Joe Rankin-Costello combined, but the latter’s shot was easily claimed by Ranger’s Bosnian goalkeeper.
With 34 minutes gone, Rovers were getting rolled on the counter-attack as Sinclair Armstrong powered away from the Rovers defence before his powerful shot was tipped over the bar by Pears.
As Rovers cleared the corner and moved upfield, Joe Rankin-Costello picked out Arnór Sigurðsson who also forced a save from Begović.
Soon, there were two bookings in as many minutes with one being handed out to either team. The first went the way of Sondre Tronstad who was cautioned for bringing down Lyndon Dykes, before the second booking went the way of Armstrong who scythed down Scott Wharton, as Geoff Eltringham handed out cards left, right and centre.
Just before one minutes of added time was called by the officials, the half’s final act saw Joe Rankin-Costello steamroll forwards, skipping past a couple of tackles before striking a left-footed effort from a way out, but he got underneath it as the ball rose over the crossbar, before half-time soon came.
An already frustrated Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been frustrated that his side had failed to make their early dominance in the game count, but would have also been happy that his team – who had been leaky at the back, recently – managed to escape the visitor’s counters and get to half-time with a clean-sheet. The Dane would have wanted his team to try and make their quality count against a side languishing lower than themselves in the table.
Martí Cifuentes would have equally been pleased with a clean-sheet, but would have wanted his side to start to take the few chances that Rovers handed to them. The Spaniard would have been encouraging his side to continue their sturdy defending in order to further target the counter-attack against a potentially fragile Rovers.
Once the teams returned for the second period, Elijah Dixon-Bonner restarted the game for the final 45 minutes as the R’s looked to give their travelling fans something to shout about.
Three minutes into the second-half and Steven Cook nearly opened the scoring as his nod from Chair’s cross dropped just narrowly wide of the far-post.
In the 51st minute, after Geoff Eltringham waved away vociferous appeals for a Rovers penalty after Andrew Moran was hacked down inside the area, Sinclair Armstrong was let loose down the other end as he was left one-on-one with Pears, leaving the defence in his wake, but the Rovers ‘keeper was alert enough and quick enough to claim the ball off the attacker’s feet.
Two minutes later, Joe Rankin-Costello had another attempt from range, but his shot kept rising.
Rankin-Costello was again involved in the next phase of play as Dixon-Bonner hauled him down as the former Liverpool man was booked for his troubles.
In the 58th minute, QPR made a triple change as Paul Smyth was thrown on alongside debutants, Joe Hodge and Issac Hayden, as Chris Willock, Lyndon Dykes and Elijah Dixon-Bonner were withdrawn.
Those changes seemed to do the trick for the R’s as just three minutes later, they managed to break the deadlock as their talisman, Ilias Chair grabbed a vital goal to grab the first goal of the game. After the Moroccan cut inside onto his right-foot, he faked a shot which sent Rankin-Costello scrambling before his released effort came back off the post and was diverted into the net off the back of Pears as Rovers trailed 1-0 in unfortunate circumstances.
What wasn’t unfortunate was the manner of QPR’s second goal, which came only three minutes after the first – in the 64th minute – as Deadline Day loan signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Joe Hodge, grabbed his first senior goal. After Rangers played it down the left, as Rovers’ defenders were at sea, Armstrong spotted the unmarked run of Hodge who was sneaking into the box as Ben Chrisene was left in No Man’s Land, not knowing whether to go tight to Hodge to cover the run from a black and red shirt from the right-hand side. Hodge was slipped through and only had Pears to beat, but finished like a seasoned veteran forward as he curled his effort past Pears and into the back of the net for 2-1, as boos and chants against CEO Steve Waggott and the Owners boomed from the Ronnie Clayton Blackburn End.
Jon Dahl Tomasson looked to react with a double change in the 67th minute as Yasin Ayari and Dilan Markanday replaced Tyrhys Dolan and Arnór Sigurðsson.
Those changes also looked to make an impact for Rovers as they managed to reduce the deficit back to one in the 73rd minute through Sam Gallagher. A Rankin-Costello shot looped into the air before he challenged for a header which bounced off Jack Colback and into the path of Sam Gallagher who rifled the ball through the legs of Begović for 2-1.
To react, QPR made a fourth change as Swiss striker, Michael Frey came on for his QPR debut after signing in January, as he replaced the lively Sinclair Armstrong.
Another QPR change was enforced in the 78th minute as Ziyad Larkeche replaced the limping Kenneth Paal.
Paul Smyth tried his luck from distance as QPR looked to regain their two-goal advantage, but the substitute saw his effort well tracked and claimed by Pears.
In the 85th minute, after going down for treatment, Sammie Szmodics was withdrawn with Semir Telalović replacing the top scorer.
With one minute of normal time remaining, Yasin Ayari had a chance to net, but Begović did well to claim the loose ball.
As the 90th minute ticked over, just before Geoff Eltringham called for a mammoth ten minutes of added time, Joe Rankin-Costello tried another shot from distance, but Begović again made a fine save.
The Bosnian goalkeeper was booked in the 94th minute for time-wasting, before a 96th minute chance saw the goalkeeper again called into action after he saved a left-footed shot from goalscorer Gallagher.
In the 98th minute, Telalović did well to get himself into a fine position to get onto the end of Chrisene’s cross, but the former Borussia Mönchengladbach forward’s effort just agonisingly looped over the bar.
Moments before the final whistle put a nail in the Rovers coffin, the final act of the game saw Yasin Ayari booked as the curtain came down on an incredibly lacklustre performance, which condemned Rovers to six league defeats in their last eight games.
A sub-par performance was on-hand for all to see. Whilst Rovers again ended the game with more possession than their visitors, they failed to make any of that domination of the ball count in any serious attacking areas as QPR ran rampant on the counter. Again, the noise from off the field, overshadowed that of the 18 in the matchday squad as Rovers continue to look lost and searching for answers to quell a catastrophic run of form that matches the hysteria from off-field. Although Rovers did manage to bring in experience in the window, the real talking point comes up-front as the fans wait to see whether the board have committed a second successive January Deadline Day disaster- class.
A silenced Jon Dahl Tomasson was also hung out to dry post-match, with him not able to explain why he was not allowed to speak to the press, pre-match. Despite revealing that he had offered to terminate his contract for free in the summer, with the board begging him to stay, the Dane showed great commitment and class by highlighting the need for the fans to understand the behind-the-scenes chaos.
With Rovers not knowing when their next league win would come from, they have slipped down to 18th and remain on 33 points from 29 games with a negative goal-difference of -7.
Rovers remain at Ewood Park, next week, as they host Stoke City on Saturday 10th February at 3pm. Following that game, they have their first away game in exactly one month, as they travel to the Second City to face Birmingham City on Tuesday 13th February at 7:45pm, before a local derby ensues, as the Blues make the short trip over to Deepdale to face Preston North End on Saturday 17th February at 3pm.
