Blackburn Rovers vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.
Ewood Park.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackburn Rovers and Swansea at Ewood Park as Bradley Dack put the home side in front before Andre Ayew scored another penalty to earn the Swans a point.
Tuesday 9 March 2021 21:16, UK
Andre Ayew scored his fourth penalty in as many games but Swansea missed a chance to move into the Sky Bet Championship automatic promotion places as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Blackburn.
Ayew's previous two spot-kicks were last-minute winners against Stoke and Middlesbrough, but here his 41st-minute strike was needed to bring the Swans level following Bradley Dack's opener on a night when they were second best for long spells.
The point was enough to move Swansea level with second-placed Watford, still with a game in hand on the Hornets, and they could be grateful to get that much on a night when Blackburn created a string of chances to wrap up victory.
In contrast, Ayew's penalty was Swansea's only shot on target.
Rovers' own hopes of forcing their way into the play-offs were effectively ended with the seven-game winless run which was finally halted at Millwall on Saturday, with Tony Mowbray naming an unchanged side from that win.
The momentum carried over as Blackburn started brightly, and they were appealing for a penalty with only two minutes gone when Tyrhys Dolan turned neatly to play in Ben Brereton but Marc Guehi stepped across him to make sure he could not get on the ball.
Brereton then sent in a curling cross which Dack, completely unmarked in front of goal, could not reach as he launched himself at the ball.
Swansea were slow to get going, unable to put any pressure on the Blackburn defence besides a couple of set-pieces, and when they finally did manage to shift play towards the other end midway through the half, they were almost caught on the break.
Brereton charged forward, slipping the ball forward for Sam Gallagher but he could not make a proper connection on the shot.
It was only a temporary let-off for the visitors though as two minutes later Dack fired Blackburn into the lead, capping a neat move involving Brereton and Tom Trybull by sending a shot between the legs of Freddie Woodman.
But the lead would last only four minutes as moments later Jay Fulton was caught by Gallagher in the box and Ayew levelled from the spot, sending his penalty straight down the middle.
Joel Latibeaudiere replaced Guehi at the break after the Ivorian had struggled with the movement of Blackburn's forwards, but his replacement was almost immediately in trouble as Brereton ran past him to reach Joe Rankin-Costello's ball, seeing his attempted lob bounce the wrong side of the post.
The hosts threatened again when Buckley ran down the left, cutting in to try to find Dack at the near post, but Ben Cabango made a crucial intervention.
Steve Cooper was unhappy with what he was seeing and made his final two changes just after the hour as Yan Dhanda and Korey Smith were introduced but still Blackburn were on the front foot, with Dack the next to threaten as he stooped to meet Barry Douglas' cross, failing to keep his header down.
Blackburn substitute Harvey Elliott injected fresh energy into the hosts, flashing a ball across the box before Dack broke the offside trap but saw his shot charged down by a recovering Cabango, with Blackburn unable to find a winner.
Blackburn's Tony Mowbray: "I think the performance level is what we've been getting. We've played against a decent side and were in the ascendency for most of the game. I think we deserved better.
"There was enough to suggest we could have won it, scrambling around in their six-yard box a few times, so it's a bit frustrating. We can beat anybody in this league and tonight we nearly beat the team who could be second."
Swansea's Steve Cooper: "It could have been worse. We're a point better off with one of these games in hand. If sometimes you don't play well, you make sure you don't lose. I am going to focus on the positives, knowing that we can play better.
"Certainly in the first half I didn't like us at all. That's not the team I want us to be in terms of our style, our identity. If we're going to make mistakes we've got to do it our way. That wasn't the case in the first half and it needed addressing in the second, which was a little bit better but not brilliant. I didn't love the game, I certainly didn't love our performance but credit to Blackburn, they played well."
