Match Reports
Blackburn 1-1 Liverpool Liverpool took a point from Ewood park in a football match which was far from a classic. The game started extremely slowly and with neither side passing the ball well or seeming to make any effort to get forward, it was not until the 28th minute that a chance was created and it went Blackburn's way. Matt Jansen collected the ball around 25 yards out, and after moving into a central position he struck a shot which Dudek made a reasonably comfortable one handed save, taking no chances in pushing the ball out for a corner. Liverpool's first chance came just a minute later however, and fell to Michael Owen. McAllister won the ball for Liverpool, and Gerrard lobbed the ball into the area with Owen somehow rising above Henning Berg to head the ball into the corner of the net and put Liverpool ahead, seconds before the half hour mark. Liverpool remained happy to pass the ball about in their own half for much of the first 45 minutes, giving away very little, but Blackburn did get another shot in before the break, with David Dunn getting into space and firing a shot across goal from over 20 yards out but Dudek made a finger-tip save to the shot which ultimately looked as though it would have gone wide anyway. No time was added on at the end of the half. Blackburn came out looking the more lively of the sides in the second half, and soon saw some reward for the pressure which they put Liverpool under. First on 50 minutes, Matt Jansen hit an early volley from close range, which Dudek made an excellent save to keep the ball out. But from the resulting corner, Blackburn finally found a way past the Liverpool defence. As the ball was crossed into the box, Blackburn had a couple of shots which were both mis-hit and with the ball staying in the area, it eventually found its way to Jansen, who hit a low shot past a helpless Dudek. It was nothing more than they deserved overall, and forced Liverpool to abandon their defensive play and have more of a go at Blackburn. But only Fowler managed a decent attempt on goal in the remainder of the 90 minutes, from a long range shot dealt with easily by Friedel, with most of the game taking place in the centre of the field. There was a late chance in the last minute of injury time however, with Danny Murphy racing past the Blackburn defence to get on the end of Steve Gerrard's excellent throughball, but despite being under no pressure, he lobbed the ball over the keeper, but somehow also put the ball wide from just outside the 6-yard box. Overall though, a draw was a fair result and with Blackburn making a good start to the season and also taking points from Arsenal and Man United, it was a good point for Liverpool to take away. The result puts Liverpool top of the league with the same number of games played as the other top teams, but they are unlikely to stay there for the rest of the day with the rest of the Premiership being played later today.
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