Blackburn did their relegation chances no harm as they earned a dogged 2-1 win over Wigan at Ewood Park.
Croatian striker nods in first Premier League goal
Blackburn did their relegation chances no harm as they earned a dogged 2-1 win over Wigan at Ewood Park on Wednesday.
Nikola Kalinic headed the decisive goal in the 76th minute after the instrumental Morten Gamst Pedersen bent in a vicious corner.
Pedersen had handed the home side a deserved 20th minute lead after league debutant Vladimir Stojkovic failed to punch clear in the Wigan goal.
Defender Gary Caldwell levelled up the score in the second half with a diving header from James McCarthy's corner, but it was Kalinic who had the last say.
The win moves Rovers up to 11th spot in the Premier League while Wigan remain in 14th place, just two points off the bottom three.
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez made five changes to his side from Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round draw at Notts County, although there was only one from the team that beat Wolves 2-0 in their last league outing.
It was a wholly significant one as goalkeeper Stojkovic, who was poor and heroic in equal measure on his first outing in English football against County, was handed his league debut.
With regular No.1 Chris Kirkland out through injury, Stojkovic's second-half showing at Meadow Lane ensured he received the nod in goal over Mike Pollitt.
Opener
But in the 20th minute, the often uncertain and hesitant-looking Stojkovic was being looked upon with disdain by his team-mates as he was at fault for the opener.
The on-loan Serbian from Sporting Lisbon opted to race 15 yards off his line and attempt to punch clear a deep free-kick from Brett Emerton in among a crowd of players.
His effort barely mustered seven yards in distance, and he was duly punished as Pedersen gratefully thumped a screaming left-foot half-volley into an unguarded net from 20 yards.
Rovers just about deserved that lead as they had been the slightly more enterprising side throughout the opening exchanges.
Perhaps unsurprisingly they came under pressure for the remainder of the half, yet although Paul Robinson was kept busy he was never called upon to make a truly top-drawer save.
There was an agile tip over to a dipping, inswinging corner from Charles N'Zogbia, and two routine stops to a free-kick and then a drive from Hugo Rodallega and Mohamed Diame respectively that were rifled straight at him.
He and Blackburn were fortunate to survive, however, in the 39th minute when Colombia striker Rodallega delivered a penetrating free-kick into heart of the area.
McCarthy managed to get a faint touch that Paul Scharner must have thought was curling inside Robinson's left-hand post as the Austrian pulled away instead of making a necessary nod goalwards.
Instead, it was Blackburn who went closest to adding to their lead, with David Hoilett firing a shot on the turn into the side-netting and Pedersen sending a dipping 25-yard free-kick narrowly over the crossbar.
Second half
Just 13 minutes after the break, though, the Latics were back on level terms courtesy of a rare strike from centre-back Caldwell, his first for the club in his second outing since his recent move from Celtic.
Captain Ryan Nelsen's block to a Rodallega drive was brave enough, but it led to a McCarthy corner that dipped into the six-yard box.
Caldwell seemed to be all over the back of former Latics right-back Pascal Chimbonda as he stooped to head home from three yards, but referee Lee Mason saw no infringement.
After Pedersen was denied his second of the night by the woodwork just five minutes later as he planted a header onto the crossbar from Emerton's deep right-wing cross, it was then a case of whatever you can do, we can do too.
Pedersen, without a name and number on his shirt as he had been forced to change his original one due to sustaining a bloody nose in an aerial collision with Mario Melchiot as he went for his earlier chance, provided the penetrating corner from the left.
Unlike Caldwell, though, Kalinic was unmarked as he dived low onto the delivery to head home from five yards in the 76th minute for what proved to the winner, and a second successive league victory.
| Blackburn Rovers |
Team Statistics |
Wigan Athletic |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
5 |
| 5 |
Corners |
6 |
| 20 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 63.3 |
Passing Success |
70.5 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
20 |
| 85.7 |
Tackles Success |
80 |
| 44.8 |
Possession |
55.2 |
| 52 |
Territorial Advantage |
48 |
|
