Blackburn Rovers 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Last updated : 04 April 2009 By Footymad Previewer
Andre Ooijer eased Blackburn Rovers' relegation worries with a last-minute winner against Tottenham Hotspur at Ewood Park.

After a Robbie Keane penalty had put the visitors ahead at the break, a moment of madness from Wilson Palacios and a managerial masterstroke from Sam Allardyce ultimately earned Rovers three precious points.

After Palacios saw red for two mistimed tackles, while man-of-the-match Chris Samba, who was thrown up front for the second half, set up Benni McCarthy for the equaliser.

And in the 90th minute, substitute Ooijer repeated his trick from the opening day of the season, by slamming home the winner from close range.

Before the game, Rovers made one change to the side that drew 1-1 at home to West Ham a fortnight ago, with Ooijer replaced by Keith Andrews, who came on for the Dutchman in the last game and scored the equalising goal.

Spurs were unchanged from the side that defeated Chelsea 1-0, with Ledley King and Darren Bent both recovering from the knee injuries which ruled them out of England duty in midweek.

After a slow start from both sides, Rovers registered the game's first attempt on 11 minutes. Gael Givet found Morten Gamst Pedersen, who played a neat one-two with McCarthy before delivering a curling ball to the far post, but after getting in front of his marker, El-Hadji Diouf headed inches wide of the mark.

Moments later, Keane got the better of Samba down the left, but Stephen Warnock twice put his body on the line to block. From Luka Modric's resulting corner, King glanced a header just wide at the near post.

On 18 minutes, Palacios played in Bent, who looked a certainty to score, but his former team-mate Paul Robinson produced a sensational one-handed save to keep him out.

Robinson again denied Bent minutes later, before Rovers had an excellent opportunity to break the deadlock. Pedersen's long throw dropped to Diouf at the far post, but his goalbound effort deflected wide off Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

On 26 minutes, David Dunn replaced the injured Pedersen and Rovers barely had time to reshuffle before they were dealt another blow. Aaron Lennon's cross from the right struck the arm of Givet inside the box and Keane coolly tucked away the resulting spot-kick.

As the half entered stoppage time, Jonathan Woodgate was off target with a free header from a corner, while at the opposite end Givet's long throw was flicked on by Samba, but Warnock's volley was well wide.

Allardyce made a bold substitution at the break, with Ooijer replacing Jason Roberts and Samba told to support McCarthy in attack.

The plan almost paid off on 48 minutes, when Samba won the knockdown from Robinson's long free-kick, but Diouf blazed horribly over the bar.

For the early stages of the second half, Rovers continued to play route-one, whilst Spurs provided much more of a cutting edge, with Ryan Nelsen forced to clear Lennon's cross-shot off his own line.

But as the game entered the final quarter of an hour, it was the home side who became more dominant. On 76 minutes, Diouf delivered a first-time cross from the right, but McCarthy somehow missed with a diving header.

Rovers were then given a lifeline when Palacios picked up two yellow cards in as many minutes for fouls on Dunn.

And with Spurs down to ten men, Rovers pressed home the advantage. On 82 minutes, Rovers had strong appeals for a penalty waved away when Keane appeared to handle inside the box, but when the ball was played back out to Samba on the left, his centre was swept home by McCarthy from close range.

But the drama didn't end there. With just a minute of normal time left, Andrews' cross found Warnock in the centre and the midfielder's crisp strike forced a fingertip save from Heurelho Gomes.

But from Diouf's resulting corner, the Spurs keeper failed to react and Ooijer slammed the ball home from a yard out.