Blackburn 3-1 Portsmouth: Super-sub Roberts scores twice as Rovers come from behind in basement battle
Published 17:00 07/11/09 By MirrorFootball
Jason Roberts climbed off the bench to hit a late double as Blackburn came from behind to claim three priceless Barclays Premier League points against fellow strugglers Portsmouth.
Jamie O'Hara had put Pompey in front with a 30-yard effort in the 15th minute, but things changed after Sam Allardyce rang the changes at the break.
Roberts steered home a 52nd-minute equaliser, before Ryan Nelsen headed Rovers in front with a rare strike in the 73rd minute. Roberts then wrapped up the points with five minutes to go.
Rovers pressed early with a Pascal Chimbonda shot causing chaos in the Pompey box and taking a big deflection off Mokoena before El-Hadji Diouf strayed offside.
Younes Kaboul and Jamie O'Hara dribbled low shots wide for the visitors, while Vanden Borre messed up a half-chance after being fed in the box by Kevin Prince-Boateng.
But Pompey grabbed the lead out of nowhere in the 15th minute when Aruna Dindane fed O'Hara and he found a way past Paul Robinson with a low left-foot shot from 30 yards.
Rovers were offering next to nothing in response and frustration grew among the home fans as Marc Wilson came close to making it two by out-jumping the home defenders from an O'Hara free-kick.
Diouf got behind the Pompey defence on the half-hour only to be let down by a woeful final ball which was cleared by Kaboul.
And Rovers' woes were summed up in the 33rd minute when, having won a free-kick 30 yards from goal, the recalled Pedersen lofted a pitiful set-piece attempt high and wide.
Chimbonda and O'Hara were both booked after a clash in the 35th minute and were followed swiftly by Gael Givet, who tripped Dindane on the corner of the Rovers box.
Rovers boss Sam Allardyce had no choice but to throw caution to the wind at the start of the second half and introduced Roberts and Benni McCarthy in place of Diouf and Pedersen.
And the home side finally managed their first shot on target in the 48th minute when Chimbonda played the ball out to David Dunn whose effort from a tight angle was easily held by David James.
But Pompey came close to grabbing a second in the 50th minute when O'Hara curled in a free-kick from the left and Kaboul rose to glance his header just wide of target.
Allardyce's double change paid dividends in the 52nd minute when Ryan Nelsen headed down Dunn's corner in the box and Roberts reacted quickest to steer the equaliser past James.
Roberts almost squeezed between Wilson and Tal Ben Haim to get a foot to a McCarthy pass in front of goal, but O'Hara remained a danger and hit another long-range effort into Robinson's arms.
Rovers snatched the lead in the 73rd minute when Nelsen sent a bullet header past James from a Dunn corner for only his second goal in almost five years at the club.
But pressed back into attacking mode, Pompey were far from finished - and substitute Tommy Smith almost responded immediately when he lofted a header on to the roof of the net.
Roberts wrapped up the points five minutes from time when he stole into the box to put the finishing touches to a left-wing cross from McCarthy.
