Bolton’s Stuart Holden thumped in a Kevin Davies knockdown two minutes from time, seconds after Mame Biram Diouf had cancelled out Fabrice Muamba’s 65th-minute opener, to leave Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce seething at his old club.
It was a miserable return for Allardyce to Blackburn which he managed for eight years between 1999 and 2007 as his side still remain 13th in the table and only five points above the relegation zone.
Bolton now have 26 points from 17 games while Blackburn remained in 13th on 21 points.
Stephen Hunt’s 45th-minute goal gave Wolverhampton a precious victory and takes them to 15 points in the table, still in 19th but only three points shy of Birmingham who are 16th.
Liverpool stunned
Alan Pardew enjoyed the perfect start to his controversial reign at Newcastle as his side clinched a 3-1 win over Liverpool in Saturday’s late match.
Pardew replaced the sacked Chris Hughton as Newcastle boss last week and the Toon Army vented their anger at his appointment both inside and outside the stadium with a string of chants aimed at Newcastle’s unpopular owner Mike Ashley.
But all of that was forgotten when Barton pounced ten minutes from time and Carroll rifled home in stoppage time to crown a memorable debut for the new Magpies chief.
Kevin Nolan had put Newcastle ahead early on before Dirk Kuyt’s equaliser, after which late goals from Joey Barton and Andy Carroll in the last 10 minutes helped hand the victors eighth place in the Premier League table.
A clearly annoyed Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, refused to use the absence through injury of influential duo Jamie Carragher and captain Steven Gerrard as an excuse for the club’s latest away defeat.
The Reds’ skipper hopes to return against Fulham next Sunday, and the manager added, “Of course you miss Jamie and Steve, of course you miss them. But we didn’t miss them in terms of the result.
“If we continue to concede goals like the first then it doesn’t matter whether they play or not.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2010.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ