Roberts sees red in stalemate

Blackburn have finished 15th in the Premier League after a 0-0 draw with relegated West Brom at Ewood Park.

Baggies stay bottom of the table after goalless draw

Blackburn have finished 15th in the Premier League after a 0-0 draw with relegated West Brom at Ewood Park. The game was marred by a red card to second half substitute Jason Roberts on 72 minutes, following an innocuous off-the-ball incident with Jonas Olsson. The pair tangled inside the area as Roberts backed into the Swedish defender and appeared to strike Olsson in the stomach with a stray elbow. Roberts had barely been on the field for 10 minutes and his dismissal left the home side clinging on for a point in the end. Either side struck the woodwork in an otherwise quiet first half. Makeshift striker Christopher Samba turned well and showed great strength to force his way into the area before drilling a low effort against the post on 16 minutes. A spectacular volley from Chris Brunt forced Rovers keeper Paul Robinson into a great reaction save as he tipped the winger's effort onto the crossbar in the closing minutes of the half. The result means West Brom finish bottom of the Premier League table on goal difference following Middlesbrough's defeat at to West Ham. Blackburn finished the final day as they started it in 15th position.

Safe

With Blackburn safe and West Brom relegated it did have the feel of a testimonial match for Tugay after eight seasons at Ewood Park. Tugay, playing his last game for the club, was given a standing ovation when he came off in the 85th minute and was replaced by Martin Olsson. He responded by waving to all corners of the ground as his name was chanted loud and long by a grateful home support. Even though they are going down, West Brom have been widely applauded for their good football. They had their moments with Northern Ireland midfielder Brunt causing Blackburn problems. He skipped away from Stephen Warnock in the fifth minute and rattled in a shot that was diverted to safety by Gael Givet. Blackburn hit back and stand-in striker Samba showed good footwork on the edge of area six minutes later only for his effort clear the bar. Samba turned quickly in the area in the 15th minute after being released by Benni McCarthy and his effort beat Dean Kiely but came back off the post. Kiely had to be alert five minutes later to parry a Morten Gamst Pedersen's superb free-kick from distance.

Back foot

West Brom again found themselves on the back foot a minute later but Tugay's instinctive effort went wide of the post. Blackburn had a scare in the 38th minute when Brunt, who has been in good form recently, made space for himself 20 yards out. He thumped in a shot that went narrowly wide of goalkeeper Paul Robinson's left hand post. Robinson then prevented his side from going behind when he somehow got his hands to a Brunt thunderbolt and pushed the ball onto the bar. Brunt tried to get West Brom going four minutes into the second half when he released Gianni Zuiverloon but he failed to get any power on his shot. The visitors pushed forward again in the 53rd minute and Juan Menseguez laid the ball back to Robert Koren. He weighed up his options before trying his luck on goal, only for his effort to finish wide of the post. Roberts then came on for Samba in the hour with Allardyce hoping he would give them a cutting edge. Minutes later the visiting supporters screamed for a penalty when Givet handled the ball but referee Jones would have none of it and waved play on. West Brom should have taken the lead in the 64th minute but Marc-Antoine Fortune was wasteful heading wide from close range following Koren's cross. They kept up the pressure but Brunt also failed to test Robinson three minutes later from a good position. Then Blackburn were forced to play out the final 20 minutes with 10 men following Roberts' dismissal and the match finished all-square.

Blackburn Rovers	Team Statistics	West Bromwich Albion
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
1	Shots on Target	2
5	Shots off Target	11
4	Blocked Shots	4
4	Corners	9
14	Fouls	11
3	Offsides	3
0	Yellow Cards	1
1	Red Cards	0
78.7	Passing Success	82.8
20	Tackles	11
60	Tackles Success	54.5
47.8	Possession	52.2
49.8	Territorial Advantage	50.2