Blackburn Rovers’ poor form continued as their scared defence offered treats to a spooky Swansea City side, who managed to move up to 2nd place in the EFL Championship, courtesy of a convincing 2-0 victory at the Liberty Stadium, which saw the home side trick the visitors into taking all three points on Halloween.
There was only one change to the Rovers side that fell to a 4-2 defeat to league leaders Reading on Tuesday night, as Ryan Nyambe came in to replace Barry Douglas – who was self-isolating. That switch allowed Joe Rankin-Costello to swap flanks and assume the left-back role, whilst Nyambe reassumed his right-back position.
As both sides readied themselves for kick-off, it was Rovers who got the game underway as they looked to try and get back to winning ways, on a ground where they haven’t tasted victory since 1983 – when the home side played their football at Vetch Field.
Rovers were able to craft the first chance of the game as Adam Armstrong managed to cut inside from the left-hand side and try his luck from goal, but his effort, which came after only two minutes of play, veered wide of the mark.
The 15th minute saw Rovers craft their second chance of the first-half as Ryan Nyambe and Lewis Holtby combined with the former playing in the latter, but the German could only hit the side-netting under pressure.
Rovers’ good early play soon became worthless as Swansea City took the lead courtesy of a straightforward set-piece which Ben Cabango headed home. Connor Roberts delivered a corner inti the box, but despite Rovers having all bar one back to defend, the Welsh 20-year old defender rose highest amongst those in the box in order to flick the ball towards the back-post, which managed to get past Aynsley Pears – with nobody marking the back-post – to put the Swans 1-0 to the good.
Jake Bidwell marked the 30th minute mark by receiving a booking after fouling Harvey Elliott.
The 41st minute saw Ben Brereton and Armstrong combined as the league’s top scorer saw his subsequent effort deflect wide of the Swansea goal. From the following corner, Rovers managed to recycle possession back to Darragh Lenihan, a minute later, as his long diagonal saw Joe Rankin-Costello’s header fall wide of the mark.
With the break fast approaching, referee Dean Whitestone called for an extra two minutes of time to be added onto the end of the first period.
Those extra minutes saw Rovers use them to their advantage as Adam Armstrong managed to latch onto a long ball forward, but his eventual chip failed to beat his former Newcastle youth teammate, Freddie Woodman, who was between the Swansea posts.
Armstrong’s effort proved to be the last chance of the first period as Mr. Whitestone soon called an end to the first 45 minutes of the tie.
Steve Cooper would have been the happier of the two coaches during the break as the former England youth manager would have been satisfied with how his side had taken advantage of their set-pieces, despite having less of the ball possession. The 40-year old would have been encouraged by his side’s performance but would have also been quick to remind his side that Rovers were incredibly potent in-front of goal.
Tony Mowbray in the away changing room would have surely had steam coming out of his ears after conceding such a soft goal. The Rovers boss would have been undoubtedly pulling his hair out of the ease in which Swansea had dominated the game’s chances, despite Rovers being more potent in possession. Mowbray would have been quick to fire up his players during the interval in an effort to try and boost morale and try and earn something from this tie.
After the Swans got the game underway for the second-half, it was Rovers who manged to craft the second period’s first opportunity, which came after only two minutes of the half. Rankin-Costello and Brereton linked up well before the forward found Corry Evans on the edge of the area. The Northern Irishman managed to control the ball well before winding up an effort that deflected behind off a Swansea man for a corner, but Rovers were unable to make the set-piece count.
Harvey Elliott and Adam Armstrong linked up for what seemed like the first-time in the game, on the 51st minute, as the Liverpool loanee managed to slide the Geordie forward in-behind the home defence, yet despite his good form, Armstrong again failed to beat his former teammate Woodman, as the Toon loanee pulled off a fine save a this near-post.
The 55th minute saw Swansea’s goalscorer Cabango go into the book following a late challenge on Armstrong. That booking came after referee Whitestone played an advantage which saw Brereton try his luck from just outside the box, as his effort forced Woodman into another fine stop.
The hour mark saw a double change for Rovers as Tyrhys Dolan and Sam Gallagher were introduced in-place of Corry Evans and Ben Brereton.
A minute after the duo entered the pitch, Rovers’ task got harder to overcome as Ghanaian international André Ayew doubled the host’s advantage with a nodded effort. Some good work down the right from Yan Dhanda, saw him skip past Rankin-Costello and deliver a seemingly unthreatening ball into the box. Unfortunately, from a Rovers fan’s perspective, neither Derrick Williams or Darragh Lenihan could react quick enough to deal with the effort, as Ayew steamrolled into the box from deep in order head the ball beyond Pears and extend the host’s lead to 2-0.
Rovers tried to get themselves on the scoresheet on the 65th minute as Elliott and Rankin-Costello combined for the left-back to try his luck from just inside the penalty area. After breaking through the Swansea defence, Rankin-Costello could only see his shot fumbled behind by Woodman for Rovers’ fourth corner of the game, another set-piece which they failed to capitalise on.
Swansea’s first substitution of the match came on the 66th minute as Viktor Gyökeres replaced former Wigan Athletic forward, Jamal Lowe.
The host’s second change of the game saw former Rovers loanee Kasey Palmer join the action, as he replaced former Liverpool academy graduate Yan Dhanda.
Rovers’ final change came in the 79th minute as Jacob Davenport was given a brief run out in-place of Adam Armstrong, as Mowbray looked to wrap his prized asset in cotton wool.
As the game’s end loomed, referee Dean Whitestone added on an extra four minutes onto the end of the game, which meant that Rovers needed an almighty comeback to salvage something.
That comeback did not happen, as Mowbray and Rovers slipped to their fifth defeat of the campaign and their third Liberty Stadium defeat from their last four visits to South Wales.
Despite Rovers being ahead of the Swans in terms of the match stats, the Ewood Park side were again left to lick their wounds following a fifth league defeat of the Championship campaign. Whilst this defeat continued Rovers’ poor run this season, the loss also continued another unwanted record for Tony Mowbray, with the manager still yet to beat the South Wales side in his managerial career thus far, despite eight attempt, including today. Whilst Rovers have been unable to settle on a consistent line-up, given the COVID-19 protocols which have forced four Rovers players thus far this season, to be forced into isolation, there is still much to be done on the training ground – mainly defensively – if Rovers want to be celebrating come May. Although some praise has to be attributed to the Swans, who have managed to bounce back from their playoff defeat in July to occupy the runners-up spot in the division, their goals today will hardly end up on any Championship ‘Goals of the Week’ montages, with the Welsh side’s goals coming from two headers. It’s very difficult to exactly pinpoint what the issue is, whether that being a lack of defensive stability or team cohesion, but it’s something Mowbray will have to nip in the bud quickly, before it spirals further out of control.
After another poor week which sees Rovers pick up no points from their two games played, the Lancashire side find themselves in 14th place, with 10 points and a positive goal difference of +5 from the 9 games played.
Looking ahead to the fixture list, Rovers are back in action on Tuesday, as the Sky Sports cameras head to Ewood Park to view Mowbray’s battle with his boyhood club Middlesbrough on 3rd November at 7:45pm. After that Rovers again play hosts to Mark Warburton’s Queens Park Rangers on Saturday 7th November at 3pm. Following that tie, the Blues go off on a two-week international break before making the long trip down to Bedfordshire to face Nathan Jones’ Luton Town – a side Rovers failed to take a point off last season – on Saturday 21st November, at 3pm.
