Bentley brace sinks Toon

David Bentley struck twice as Blackburn came from behind to defeat Newcastle 3-1 in a pulsating encounter at Ewood Park.

Blackburn come from behind to beat Newcastle

David Bentley struck twice as Blackburn came from behind to defeat Newcastle 3-1 in a pulsating encounter at Ewood Park. Neither side had won in their previous four games so it was perhaps not surprising that the clash was fiercely contested, but it did not explode into life until the start of the second half. Obafemi Martins' glancing header put Newcastle ahead in the 47th minute, before Bentley curled a stunning free-kick into the top corner to equalise after 53 minutes. Bentley then arrowed a second in off the post in the 67th minute but it was far from plain sailing from then on as Rovers had to withstand a late onslaught. Newcastle will feel they were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty for a Brett Emerton handball, before Tugay scored on the break in stoppage time to seal Blackburn's success and pile more pressure on Sam Allardyce.

Ambitious

The first half was short on entertainment but Blackburn should have made the breakthrough in the 15th minute when David Dunn hoisted the ball forward. Benni McCarthy released Roque Santa Cruz but with only Shay Given to beat he steered his effort wide of the post. Newcastle carved out a good chance in the 30th minute when Martins split the home defence. He clipped a neat ball into the path of Alan Smith but his ambitious effort went wide of the post when he should have opted to release James Milner, who was in a better position. This was a decent spell by Newcastle and Barton picked out Martins with a smart diagonal ball. But the move broke down when the Nigerian was crowded out as he tried to shape for a shot. Newcastle had a scare in stoppage time when Bentley spotted Given out of his area but the winger was not able to get any direction on his effort. The Magpies needed only two minutes of the second half to take the lead after Brett Emerton was pulled up for a challenge on Milner. Geremi drove the ball in and Martins escaped his marker to clip a header beyond Friedel. It was the Nigerian's sixth goal of the season and a welcome boost for Allardyce, who had come in for criticism from some of the supporters.

Motionless

However, Blackburn equalised in the 54th minute with a superb 25-yard free-kick from Bentley. The winger left Given motionless after Charles N'Zogbia had brought down Santa Cruz. Joey Barton should have regained the lead for Newcastle two minutes later when Blackburn defender Christopher Samba's clearance rebounded off the midfielder, only for him to seem to get his feet stuck under the ball and Friedel was eventually able to make the block. Martins then got goal-side as Samba failed to cut out Milner's through-ball but headed over the top. Blackburn took the lead in the 67th minute with Bentley's second goal of the game. It was another fine finish as well, the England winger rifling a shot into the corner off the post. Bentley came within a whisker of getting his hat-trick in the 74th minute, his effort coming back off the post. Then substitute Jason Roberts saw his effort turned away by Given in the 80th minute. Substitute Morten Gamst Pedersen headed wide in the 84th minute before Tugay scored a third in stoppage time. The veteran Turkish playmaker was released by Roberts after Pedersen started the move with Newcastle pushing forward.

Blackburn Rovers	Team Statistics	Newcastle United
3	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	0
5	Shots on Target	4
8	Shots off Target	11
3	Blocked Shots	6
1	Corners	1
22	Fouls	18
1	Offsides	3
2	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
69.9	Passing Success	71.1
22	Tackles	20
72.7	Tackles Success	85
53.2	Possession	46.8
41.8	Territorial Advantage	58.2