An injury time winner from Andre Ooijer hands Blackburn a 3-2 win against Everton at Goodison Park.
First Rovers goal for Ooijer beats Everton in injury time
An injury time winner from Andre Ooijer handed Blackburn a 3-2 win in their opening Premier League game against Everton at Goodison Park.
Ooijer powered a rebounded Ryan Nelsen effort home in the 93rd minute to score his first goal for the club.
Blackburn had earlier taken the lead after 20 minutes when Morten Gamst Pedersen laid the ball off to David Dunn who precisely slotted his ball in the bottom left corner.
Everton looked lacklustre in their attack but grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half time when Mikael Arteta squeezed a free kick past Paul Robinson.
The home side took the lead for the first time in the game in the 65th minute when Yakubu rose well in the box to head past Paul Robinson.
Blackburn replied immediately when a Stephen Warnock ball found Roque Santa Cruz who got the better of Lescott to head home, before Ooijer sealed victory for Rovers.
Winning start
Sir Alex Ferguson was in the Goodison Park directors' box today to see Paul Ince make a winning start to his Premier League managerial career.
Ferguson no doubt taught Ince a few things about true grit when he played under the Scot at Old Trafford - and the protege seems to have implanted that spirit into a Blackburn side who were supposedly at odds with their new manager.
Rovers won with a goal from defender Andre Ooijer four minutes into injury time.
They had led through David Dunn, before Mikel Arteta equalised for Everton with a fine free-kick in first-half injury-time.
When Yakubu Aiyegbeni put Everton ahead, it looked as if the hosts were going to grab the points. But Roque Santa Cruz and then Dutchman Ooijer had different ideas.
Everton gave a first-team debut to 17-year-old midfielder Jack Rodwell, a glut of injuries and a failure to sign a single new player this summer narrowing manager David Moyes' options. He also had six youngsters on the bench.
Everton had defenders Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka in midfield roles - while Ince, having already sold David Bentley, named Steven Reid on the right flank.
Dunn, cutting in from the left, forced Howard into a smart save early on. But the next time Dunn was in a shooting position, he bagged an excellent goal on 22 minutes.
Pedersen and Santa Cruz were involved in the build-up, but Dunn did much of the hard work himself by sending Jagielka skidding away on his backside - having shifted the ball from right to left foot before firing wide of Howard.
Score sheet
Dunn's excellent goal gave Rovers the lift they needed, and they were finding too much room in the centre of midfield. Rodwell was doing his best, but the makeshift partnership with Jagielka was a worry.
But two minutes into first-half injury-time, Arteta was on the score sheet with a curling free-kick - for a harsh hand-ball against Reid - that left Robinson standing.
Everton could have been ahead two minutes into the second period.
Rodwell put Baines away on the left - and when the cross flashed in front of goal both Yakubu and Leon Osman failed by inches to connect with the cross.
After 64 minutes, Everton surged into the lead. Yakubu's neat ball out to the left sent Arteta racing away - and when the far-post cross arrived, Yakubu was towering above everyone to head home.
The lead lasted two minutes. Warnock's angled ball in from the left saw Santa Cruz get goal side of Lescott to ease the ball past Howard.
Roberts forced a fine save from Howard, with Lescott's block stopping Roberts' second attempt. Joseph Yobo was booked for a foul on Roberts, before Ince sent on Keith Treacy in place of Pedersen.
With 11 minutes left, Everton sent on Jose Baxter for his debut in place of Valente - making him the Toffees' youngest ever senior player at 16 years and 196 days old.
But Blackburn stole the points in the 94th minute when Warnock's free-kick was headed against the post by Ryan Nelsen, with Ooijer tapping home the rebound.
| Everton |
Team Statistics |
Blackburn Rovers |
| 2 |
Goals |
3 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 3 |
Corners |
5 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 68.8 |
Passing Success |
68 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
19 |
| 81 |
Tackles Success |
84.2 |
| 50.1 |
Possession |
49.9 |
| 43.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
56.3 |
|
