Blackburn Rovers vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.
Ewood ParkAttendance12,584.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City at Ewood Park as Daniel Ayala scored late on to seal a late win for Jon Dahl Tomasson's side.
Saturday 18 February 2023 19:20, UK
Daniel Ayala's late winner gave Blackburn a 1-0 win over Swansea to move level on points with the top six in the Championship.
It looked like becoming five successive draws for Rovers but Dominic Hyam and Ayala, who both returned from injury, combined for the Spaniard to head home his first goal of the season in the 89th minute to reignite their faltering play-off push.
Swansea are seven points off the play-offs after a third game without victory on the road and will rue not turning their possession into goals.
The visitors started the game in typical fashion by dominating the ball and went agonisingly close in the 16th minute.
Ryan Manning's cross was thundered against the underside of the crossbar by Ben Cabango and though Harry Darling met the rebound, there was no power on his header and Aynsley Pears collected.
Tyrhys Dolan was able to drive into the area in the 24th minute but flashed his shot wide when well placed, before Rovers were opened up six minutes before the break when a crossfield ball was controlled by Joel Latibeaudiere but his cross was stabbed wide by Jay Fulton.
The home fans let their team know in no uncertain terms how they felt about the first-half performance and the early signs after the interval were promising, as Ben Brereton Diaz fired a first-time shot into the side netting after meeting Sorba Thomas' cross.
Jon Dahl Tomasson's men continued to hassle and pressure Swansea and were denied when Manning made two vital interventions, first heading away a Harry Pickering cross under pressure and brilliantly blocking a Thomas volley off the line.
Joel Piroe struck the side netting in the 65th minute with a ferocious volley as Swansea tried to reassert their dominance.
They should have been behind two minutes later when Brereton Diaz stole in behind Latibeaudiere to meet a John Buckley cross but Andy Fisher made a smart save down to his left and Cabango produced a superb clearance a minute later to deny the Chile international a tap-in.
A marauding Darling burst forward engineered space for Piroe who had time to take aim 25 yards out but hammered his shot straight down the throat of Pears.
Rovers dramatically got the goal their second-half endeavours deserved in the 89th minute when a Ryan Hedges cross was helped to the back post by Hyam and the onrushing Ayala sent the home support wild by stooping to head home.
Blackburn's Jon Dahl Tomasson:
"Today was a big win. If you look at the performance and result, I think it was deserved as well. After being on the road and playing those two difficult games against Watford and West Brom - two teams who need to go up with Premier League players - when you come home at Ewood Park, where we've celebrated a lot of victories with our fans, we want to win. In the first half, I was not happy with our first half, that was not the plan. I think we were too passive out of possession, we were not moving the ball quick enough.
"We spoke about it at half-time and you saw a great Rovers in the second half - front footed, aggressive, playing quick football. And (it was) good to see another clean sheet and big Daniel getting his goal which was nice. The crowd got behind the players, so it's been a good win today and you could see the players believed right to the end after a period with a lot of games. They were fighting to the end and showed that great spirit and togetherness that this team has."
Swansea's Russell Martin:
"We shouldn't lose the game, I don't think we deserved to lose the game. There were some really good chances in the first half. Don't think they had anything in the first half, but we don't score the first goal again. It keeps the game hanging in the balance. Second half, they changed formation that helped them a little bit but we didn't show anywhere near enough intensity with the ball. Intensity without the ball today was great, even the way we defended the final third. Again, (we) limited them to very little apart from Brereton Diaz at the back post.
"They score a second phase from a set piece which happens far too much. I think, maybe take the point at 0-0 and be disappointed not to make more of what we had. But to lose it is inexcusable. We concede too many, we've scored the fourth most, we don't score first today and we concede. We should have a clean sheet. They've created absolutely nothing really, seven shots all game and not really too many scary moments. We had 10 shots but should create way more with the openings we have. It's really frustrating."
