10-man Rovers hold on

Blackburn Rovers survived the first-half dismissal of Christopher Samba to hold Sunderland to a goalless draw.

Black Cats unable to break down 10-man Blackburn

Blackburn Rovers survived the first-half dismissal of Christopher Samba to hold Sunderland to a goalless draw at Ewood Park. Darren Bent should have given the visitors the lead, but after getting the better of Gael Givet he was denied by Rovers keeper Paul Robinson. Rovers lost Samba's services on the stroke of half-time when his short back-pass was seized upon by Danny Welbeck who he then brought down. Sunderland had much of the play and chances in the second half, but more often than not their final ball let them down when it mattered most. The point does little for either side's hopes of climbing the table as they both move three points clear of the drop zone on nine points. After a scrappy opening, Ahmed Elmohamady guided a header into Lee Cattermole's path, who cut into the box and went down claiming Givet had fouled him. Referee Lee Probert waved play on, with replays suggesting any contact had been minimal. Morten Gamst Pedersen nearly opened the scoring around the quarter-hour mark with a swerving, dipping free-kick that Simon Mignolet - again preferred in goal for the Wearsiders to Craig Gordon - managed to tip over the bar.

Acrobatic attempt

Moments later El-Hadji Diouf sent a low cross into the danger zone which Titus Bramble intercepted, before Welbeck saw an acrobatic attempt go well wide. Bent then squandered a good opportunity, the Black Cats' top scorer latching on to a long ball after a mistake by Givet but shooting weakly at Robinson in a one-on-one situation. Pedersen called Mignolet into action again with another free-kick from almost the same position as before, the Belgian keeper getting his fist to the delivery. Diouf was next to send a useful ball into the box which Nikola Kalinic headed the wrong side of the post. The Senegalese player then showed his more petulant side, raising his hand to Phil Bardsley's face and fortunate to get away without a booking. There was no such respite for Samba in first-half stoppage-time though after he brought down Welbeck just outside the box. The Rovers skipper was given his marching orders, with Bardsley striking the resulting free-kick against the wall and Bent firing the rebound wide. Bent misdirected a header from Elmohamady's cross at the start of the second half, while Pedersen's free-kick caused a scramble in the Sunderland box which neither Kalinic nor Jones could finish off.

Attacking options

Both managers attempted to bolster their attacking options by throwing on forwards, with the Black Cats' record signing Asamoah Gyan replacing Nedum Onuoha. Rovers boss Sam Allardyce introduced Benjani for Kalinic, as well as David Dunn, who came on in place of Michel Salgado. The visitors had a chance soon after as Robinson rushed out to slide the ball away from Bent. It fell to Steed Malbranque but the Frenchman could not get his effort on target. Benjani wriggled free and unleashed a shot that soared high and wide and Bramble was also unable to find any accuracy with a volley. Diouf then almost managed to get on the end of a weak back-pass by Elmohamady but Mignolet arrived in time to beat him to the ball. Benjani had to come off after picking up a knock and Mame Biram Diouf was sent on, while Boudewijn Zenden, who had come on for Malbranque, got a header on target which Robinson saved. The newly-introduced Diouf tried a snap-shot that did little to trouble Mignolet and Gyan went closer with a curling shot that slipped narrowly wide. Zenden also had a speculative shot towards the end but the game had been petering out for some time by then and a 0-0 draw seemed the only fair result by the final whistle.

Blackburn Rovers	Team Statistics	Sunderland
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
2	Shots on Target	4
6	Shots off Target	9
1	Blocked Shots	4
5	Corners	3
12	Fouls	14
6	Offsides	2
2	Yellow Cards	1
1	Red Cards	0
56	Passing Success	70.8
14	Tackles	7
71.4	Tackles Success	85.7
42.1	Possession	57.9
42.9	Territorial Advantage	57.1