Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Swansea City: Swans lose chance to go second

Swansea City missed the opportunity to move on to the automatic promotion spots in the Championship as they were tied 1-1 by Blackburn at Ewood Park.

A fourth penalty in as many games tied the Swans before halftime when Andre Ayew’s effort slammed into goal.

Blackburn had by far the best of the second half, but couldn’t find a winner as the Swans held fast.

In the draw, Swansea is tied with second-placed Watford with 66 points, with one game in hand, while the Rovers move past Preston in 14th position in the Championship.

However, the hosts will stick around to reflect on a frustrating night in which they produced more than enough chances to win all three points against a Swansea team that has never been at their best and now without a win at Blackburn in half a century.

Unsurprisingly, Rovers boss Tony Mowbray opted not to change his starting eleven after his team snapped an eight-game winless streak in their 2-0 win at Millwall on Saturday, especially with the maximum scorer Adam Armstrong still lost through injury.

Swansea, on the other hand, has been getting results in recent games, and its level of performance doesn’t match some of its previous exhibitions from this period.

However, the opportunity to move into the automatic promotion slots was a huge incentive for the Swans who made two changes on their side, with Jake Bidwell and Jamal Lowe retired after having rested for the win over Middlesbrough last time out.

The Rovers have certainly had fun in the past against the Swans at Ewood Park, losing just one of their previous 19 meetings, with their unbeaten streak stretching back 50 years to 1971.

Swansea came into this contest having won eight times on the road this season, but they started slowly and they were grateful that Dack missed his header in 11 minutes after a good cross from Ben Brereton.

However, Blackburn was finding space hard to come by as Swansea pushed them across the field and the Swans saw a penalty appeal rejected in 30 minutes for handball after a long shot from Connor Roberts caused panic.

Then the hosts took the lead in the 38th minute with their first clear chance after a decisive break when Tom Tryball found Dack, who shot right at Freddie Woodman, who will have been disappointed that the shot went through his legs.

However, the long shot undid Blackburn in the 41st minute as they failed to clear into a packed penalty area and Sam Gallagher fouled Jay Fulton as the Swans were awarded a penalty for the fourth game in a row, without having had one in 25 championships. contests.

Ayew’s penalty was straight through the middle and somewhat weak and goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski will feel like he should have saved him, but he could only push the ball into his own goal.

Blackburn finished half in the attack with Dack and Gallagher testing Woodman with efforts from range he was up to, but the keeper was saved only by good luck when Brereton ran clear just after the break, but saw his lob was deviating. the near post with Woodman stranded.

The Swans weren’t anywhere near their prime and Tyrhys Dolan curled up and Dack stepped closer as all notable opportunities seemed to fall into the hands of the hosts.

Both Dack and Tryball saw efforts blocked as it seemed more and more that the hosts were the only possible winners, but the Swans held firm to secure a valuable point.