Lawrence strike sinks Rovers

Liam Lawrence all but guaranteed Stoke's survival with a 75th-minute winner against Blackburn.

Lawrence winner lifts Stoke, piles pressure on Blackburn

Liam Lawrence all but guaranteed Stoke's Premier League survival with a vital 75th-minute winner against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. Stoke had the better of the chances in both halves at the Britannia Stadium, but it took until 15 minutes from time for the hosts to make the breakthrough. James Beattie headed Danny Higginbotham's deep cross from the left wing towards Lawrence who was lurking on the right-hand side of the penalty area. Lawrence took a touch on his right foot to turn inside Gael Givet before lashing a left-footed shot past Paul Robinson at his near post. The keeper got his left hand to the strike, but he did not get enough behind it to stop it squirming under his body. The win moves Stoke onto 39 points, eight points clear of the relegation zone and seven ahead of Newcastle who have a game in hand. Rovers meanwhile drop to 17th place - just one above the drop zone - and remain on 34 points, just three from safety. It was Stoke's first top-flight victory over Rovers at home for 44 years and extended their unbeaten home run to seven matches - which has been the key to their success in their maiden Premier League season.

Adrift

Middlesbrough's draw at home to Fulham reduced the gap between them and Blackburn to three, with second-bottom Newcastle playing on Sunday a further point adrift. The hosts fully deserved their victory having enjoyed the majority of possession as injury-hit Rovers lacked a cutting edge. Beattie could have put his side ahead against one of his former clubs in only the second minute when Rory Delap's throw was half-cleared to Glenn Whelan and his shot was deflected over by the striker. Five minutes later Blackburn had their first shot but Morten Gamst Pedersen's left-foot volley from outside the penalty area sailed well over Thomas Sorensen's goal. After much midfield action with very little threat to either goal Abdoulaye Faye's blushes were spared by his goalkeeper in the 16th minute. The centre-back tried to head Stephen Warnock's hopeful through-ball back to Sorensen but almost put it past him with the Dane just managing to get a hand to it and then clutch it into his body.

Appeal

In the 23rd minute Beattie fell to the ground under Andre Ooijer's challenge as he attempted to reach Lawrence's right-wing cross but referee Howard Webb waved away appeals for a penalty. Moments later Higginbotham headed Lawrence's corner wide as Stoke stepped up the pressure. Right-back Andy Wilkinson was booked in the 27th minute for going in late on El-Hadji Diouf and although Pedersen won a corner after Webb played the advantage the Rovers winger's subsequent cross was disappointing. Stoke were screaming for a penalty again when Ricardo Fuller went down theatrically under pressure from Chris Samba but the Rovers centre-back had not touched his opponent. Five minutes into the second half Stephen Kelly replaced Wilkinson, who had taken a knock to his back from Pedersen late in the first half. Fuller was booked for his second late barge on Samba in the space of a couple of minutes, with Warnock's name following into Webb's book for clattering Whelan. In the 55th minute Robinson made the first real save of note when he tipped over Lawrence's dipping drive from the right edge of the penalty area. Matthew Etherington then should have done better when he headed wide Lawrence's cross to the far post. Sam Allardyce sent on Carlos Villanueva for Benni McCarthy just before the hour.

Winner

The breakthrough Stoke had been threatening finally came in the 75th minute. Higginbotham's deep cross from the left was flicked on by Beattie to Lawrence, who showed great composure to bring the ball down, turn inside Givet and fire a shot into the near post which Robinson got a hand to but could not keep out. Allardyce's response was to push Samba up front and send on David Dunn for Aaron Mokoena. It was a desperate act for an increasingly desperate situation but it failed to pay off and the result leaves Rovers nervously looking over their shoulders into the bottom three again.

Stoke City	Team Statistics	Blackburn Rovers
1	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
2	Shots on Target	0
6	Shots off Target	3
1	Blocked Shots	4
4	Corners	6
14	Fouls	11
1	Offsides	1
3	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
61.8	Passing Success	56.8
10	Tackles	15
70	Tackles Success	46.7
48.2	Possession	51.8
48.4	Territorial Advantage	51.6