West Brom victory piles on pressure on Blackburn
West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie piled the pressure on beleaguered Blackburn boss Steve Kean as his last minute strike secured a 2-1 win at Ewood Park on Saturday.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: December 17, 2011 11:57 pm IST
West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie piled the pressure on beleaguered Blackburn boss Steve Kean as his last minute strike secured a 2-1 win at Ewood Park on Saturday.
Kean has already had to endure calls for his resignation from angry Blackburn fans for several weeks and the 'Kean out' chants got even louder after Odemwingie's superb effort kept Rovers second bottom of the Premier League.
Blackburn briefly looked like rescuing Kean from another dismal defeat when Scott Dann scrambled an equaliser after James Morrison put Albion ahead early in the second half.
Rovers' Indian owners Venky's have given Kean their support so far but this loss, Blackburn's third in the last four league games, left the Lancashire club four points from safety.
Odemwingie was a threat right from the start and he fired wide from Morrison's pass before glancing Chris Brunt's cross past a post.
Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson was called into action for the first time to beat away another Odemwingie effort, while Blackburn finally had a chance through Morten Gamst Pedersen, whose free-kick was tipped over the bar by Ben Foster.
Albion took the lead in the 52nd minute when a corner came off Steven Nzonzi to Morrison, who smashed in a fine volley from just outside the area.
Kean shuffled his pack by bringing on Jason Roberts and Grant Hanley for Simon Vukcevic and David Dunn, a move that drew cries of 'you don't know what you're doing' from some Rovers fans.
Dann then got away with an error of judgement, inadvertently lobbing Robinson when trying to play the ball back to his goalkeeper and grateful to see the ball bounce wide.
Former Birmingham defender Dann made a far more positive contribution in the 72nd minute as he drew Rovers level.
It was a route one move as Christopher Samba headed on Robinson's long kick and Dann was on hand to bundle home.
David Goodwillie fired straight at Foster and Nzonzi and Ayegbeni Yakubu were also denied as Rovers pressed for a winner.
But Odemwingie delivered the late hammer blow, dancing around several men before curling a beauty into the corner of the net to leave Kean with nothing to celebrate on the first anniversary of his appointment as Blackburn boss.