Blackburn Rovers earned their first away win since September with a 2-1 victory over Hull City.
Rovers win drags Tigers further into relegation fight
Blackburn Rovers earned their first away win since September with a 2-1 victory over Hull City. Goals from Stephen Warnock and Keith Andrews were enough to see Rovers edge past a Tigers team that still hasn't won in the league since December. The game threatened to boil over midway through the second-half when Hull City's Dean Marney was sent-off for retaliation minutes before the midfielder's victim Morten Gamst Pedersen was dismissed himself for two bookable offences. Two first-half goals in the space of four minutes gave Rovers a clear advantage at half-time and the game looked dead and buried when Marney received his marching orders. But Phil Brown's men were given new life when Pedersen walked on 70 minutes. Skipper Ian Ashbee gave them hope when he pulled a goal back 10 minutes from time but the visitors held out.Fiery
The game got off to a fiery start with Warnock booked with less than a minute on the clock for hacking down Bernard Mendy. Rovers had an early chance when El-Hadji Diouf jumped to head on a bouncing ball but Matt Duke was untroubled. Marney had Hull's first shot after Geovanni kept an attack going with an overhead kick but Andrews blocked. Mendy also tried his luck from distance wide on the right but Robinson collected comfortably. A fine crossfield ball from Mendy also put Geovanni through on goal but the Brazilian's first touch was poor. Michael Turner, with five goals to his name already this season, brought a fine save out of Robinson with a firm header from a Marney free-kick but Mendy had already been given offside. Geovanni threatened with a good run from halfway and was aggrieved not to win a free-kick after being dispossessed by Christopher Samba on the edge of the area. Geovanni also tested Robinson with a header but again a flag was raised for offside. Blackburn grabbed the lead against the run of play in the 34th minute after Duke failed to gather a deflected Pedersen shot. Roque Santa Cruz quickly nipped in and pulled back for the onrushing Warnock to coolly clip into the top of an unguarded net. They doubled their lead just a minute later as Warnock raced into the area from a Santa Cruz lay-off and squared for Andrews to turn home. Turner was booked for a heavy challenge on Robinson just before the interval and the Rovers goalkeeper left the field gingerly at half-time after receiving treatment. It proved a serious enough injury to prevent him returning and Jason Brown duly took his place. Duke was the first keeper to be tested after the break as Vince Grella struck fiercely from 20 yards but he parried to safety. Brown gave it just seven minutes before making changes, taking off Kevin Kilbane and Geovanni for Daniel Cousin and Nick Barmby.Displeasure
Geovanni shook his head when his number was raised and the crowd voiced their displeasure with a howl of boos. Santa Cruz headed wide on the hour after Diouf headed in his direction. Hull were reduced to 10 men when Marney was sent off for kicking a prostrate Pedersen in the privates after being fouled by the Norwegian, who was also booked. Hull's fans appealed for a penalty after Turner appeared to be pushed by Samba but Martin Atkinson, at the centre of attention, gave nothing. Pedersen followed Marney to the dressing room after 70 minutes when he was given his second yellow card for a late tackle on Kamil Zayatte. Ashbee gave Hull late hope when he blasted a crisp volley past Brown from a Mendy cross with 12 minutes remaining. Andy Dawson was booked for a foul on Diouf on the edge of the area but the Senegal international also earned a yellow card for claiming he should have had a penalty. Allardyce decided to withdraw Diouf for his own good soon after. Dawson brought a fine save out of Brown with a strong shot in injury time and Turner also shot wide as Hull finished strongly but the game ended in now familiar frustration for the hosts.| Hull City | Team Statistics | Blackburn Rovers |
| 1 | Goals | 2 |
| 0 | 1st Half Goals | 2 |
| 3 | Shots on Target | 4 |
| 5 | Shots off Target | 3 |
| 2 | Blocked Shots | 4 |
| 6 | Corners | 4 |
| 14 | Fouls | 21 |
| 6 | Offsides | 5 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 1 | Red Cards | 1 |
| 58.6 | Passing Success | 58.3 |
| 11 | Tackles | 14 |
| 81.8 | Tackles Success | 71.4 |
| 52 | Possession | 48 |
| 49 | Territorial Advantage | 51 |