Blackburn 0 - 2 Manchester United
Goals From Rooney and Brown Give United Victory at Ewood Park
Oct 4, 2008
The first battle between Blackburn manager Paul Ince and his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson finished Blackburn 0 - 2 Manchester United. After an impressive win away in Europe against Aalborg, Manchester United were looking to beat Blackburn and get back into the top half of the Premiership table. With Arsenal dropping points at Sunderland, the Manchester United v Blackburn result took on even more importance.
Manchester United had Carrick, Scholes and Hargreaves all sidelined with injuries, and Rooney was a doubt before the game but recovered from an ankle injury in time to start the match. Jason Brown replaced the injured Paul Robinson in the Blackburn goal.
Goal Brown: Blackburn 0 - 1 Manchester United
Sir Alex Ferguson put Rooney and Ronaldo on the wings with Giggs in the centre of midfield alongside Anderson and Fletcher allowing Berbatov a free role up front. Ferguson was hoping that putting out this array of attacking flare would mean that Manchester United would beat Blackburn comfortably.
On 30-minutes, a Manchester United corner led to a cross by Rooney that the Blackburn goalkeeper couldn't get to, allowing Wes Brown to head the ball in off a Blackburn defender on the line. It was Blackburn 0 - 1 Manchester United and the Red Devils wanted more, knowing that if Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers then they would go to 6th place in the Premiership table.
Half-Time: Blackburn 0 - 1 Manchester United
Manchester United started playing some decisive football and completely dominated play, with 79% of possession in the first half. They continued to create chances, with Rooney one-on-one with the Blackburn goalkeeper on 39-minutes, but unable to get a good shot away in the slippery conditions. At half-time it was Blackburn 0 - 1 Manchester United, but Blackburn 0 - 2 Manchester United looked the more likely full-time score.
Goal Rooney: Blackburn 0 - 2 Manchester United
At the start of the second half, Blackburn immediately set about trying to get back into the game, with Santa Cruz forcing a good save from Van Der Sar. However, after continous pressure from Manchester United and good chances for Ronaldo and Berbatov, Manchester United's second goal came. Ronaldo broke down the right wing and cut the ball back for Rooney to blast into the top-left hand corner of the Blackburn goal. It was Blackburn 0 - 2 Manchester United and there looked to be no way back for Ince's men.
In an attempt to seal the match, Sir Alex ferguson brought on Tevez for Giggs, O'Shea for Evra and Park for Rooney. Manchester United continuted to dominate possession, playing superb one-touch football whilst Blackburn kept as many players as they could behind the ball in an attempt to stop Manchester United beating them by more.
Result: Blackburn 0 - 2 Manchester United
Despite more great chances for Manchester United, they did not manage to add any more goals and so the match finished Blackburn 0 - 2 Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson will not be too unhappy at not scoring more due to the horrendous conditions at Ewood Park, and because Manchester United beat Blackburn they now climb to 6th in the Premiership table, with a game in hand over Arsenal. Blackburn are 9th.
Blackburn Rovers: Brown, Ooijer, Samba, Nelson, Olson, Emerton, Kerimoglu (Andrews 68), Warnock, Pederson (Treacy 58), Derbyshire, Santa Cruz (Roberts 50)
Manchester United: Van Der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (O'Shea 71), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs (Tevez 66), Rooney (Park 77), Berbatov
