Blackburn Rovers 4-0 Birmingham: Ben Brereton Diaz scores twice in romping win

Ben Brereton Diaz scored a brace as Blackburn climbed up to third in the Sky Bet Championship after thrashing Birmingham 4-0.

Before the game, Blues boss Lee Bowyer said Blackburn were clinical in every department and it took six minutes to prove that theory as the division's form side opened up Birmingham, allowing John Buckley to score his first of the campaign.

Although the visitors rallied towards the end of the half and were unlucky when Chuks Aneke's wonderful strike hit the crossbar, Blackburn ruthlessly put them to the sword with three second-half goals.

Reda Khadra's composed finish made it 2-0 and Brereton Diaz slotted home a penalty on the hour before the Chilean striker capped a fine move with a close-range header, his 19th goal of the term, to round off a perfect afternoon.

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Blackburn's promotion push shows no signs of relenting after they registered a fifth consecutive clean sheet for the first time since 1996/97, and a fifth straight league win for the first time since 2000.

The last time that happened, they were promoted to the Premier League, and in such irresistible form, it is hard to make a case against a return.

Birmingham's away woes continued with a sixth loss in nine, during which time they have scored just three times.

Blackburn cut through the visitors to take an early lead as Jan Paul Van Hecke's raking pass found Ryan Nyambe who surged forward and his cross was palmed by Matija Sarkic to Buckley who slotted into the bottom corner.

Scott Wharton lashed wide soon after when Sarkic diverted a corner straight to the defender but Rovers were given a reminder of the Birmingham threat when Aneke picked the ball up 25 yards out and curled a brilliant effort that cannoned off the crossbar with Thomas Kaminski well beaten.

Any hopes of a comeback were ruthlessly extinguished by Rovers in the 52nd minute when Darragh Lenihan's ball in behind the defence found Khadra who rounded the goalkeeper and showed remarkable composure to sit a defender down before finishing confidently.

Rovers were rampant and scored a third from the spot in the 60th minute after Brereton Diaz was brought down by the hapless Sarkic. He picked himself up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and place into the left corner.

Blackburn substitute Dan Butterworth's thunderous strike rattled the crossbar in the 77th minute, but Rovers got their fourth two minutes later when his cross looped up and gave Brereton Diaz a simple header on the line for his 19th of the season.

It could have been even more emphatic, as the Chilean's deft lob clipped the woodwork late on.

What the managers said...

Blackburn's Tony Mowbray: "I think defensively we looked pretty strong. I think we've got a real determination about trying to keep clean sheets. I need to mention Lenihan who has got the added responsibility of captain, leadership and he's showing that. He's standing like a man mountain.

"Do we look like we can score goals when we win the ball back and break away? Yes. Any team that carries the threat that we carry and looks as solid as we look at the moment is going to win games. The combination of the defensive stability and the goal threat is pretty potent."

Birmingham's Lee Bowyer: "We helped them along the way. The goals we conceded are not good enough. We were second best. For me the only positive today is JJ (Jordan James). He can walk out of that dressing room with his head held high. They are a good side though, Blackburn. They've got quality all over the park. Even the people they're bringing on were really good. We were out of our depth today.

"(For the first goal) Just another basic ball. We got done with a ball from centre-half to the opposite wing back, who comes inside Kristian (Pedersen) who can't touch him. And the second one is from a centre-half and he slides one straight past, and they get in. It's not like us, we normally defend better than that. We weren't at the races today. We have to improve as a group. We know that wasn't good enough. We have to do better."

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