Daniel Ayala scored a late winner to help Blackburn produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Championship. Rovers were on course for five consecutive draws until Dominic Hyam and Ayala, who had both returned from injury, combined for the Spaniard to head home his first goal of the season in the 89th minute, rekindling their failing playoff push. Swansea is seven points out of the playoffs after a third game without a win on the road, and they will be disappointed that they did not convert their possession into goals. The visitors dominated the ball early on and came agonizingly close to winning in the 16th minute. Ben Cabango smashed Ryan Manning’s cross against the underside of the crossbar, and Harry Darling met the rebound.
Tyrhys Dolan was able to drive into the area in the 24th minute but blazed his shot wide when well placed before Rovers were opened up six minutes before halftime when Joel Latibeaudiere controlled a crossfield ball but his cross was punched wide by Jay Fulton. The home fans made it clear how they felt about their team’s first-half performance, and the early signs after the break were good, with Ben Brereton Diaz firing a first-time effort into the side netting after meeting Sorba Thomas’ cross.
Swansea continued to harass and press Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men, but they were denied when Manning made two crucial interventions, first heading away a Harry Pickering cross under pressure and then wonderfully blocking a Thomas volley off the line. When Swansea attempted to restore their dominance, Joel Piroe smacked the side netting with a powerful volley in the 65th minute. Two minutes later, Brereton Diaz snuck in behind Latibeaudiere to meet a John Buckley cross, but Andy Fisher made a good save down to his left, and Cabango produced a superb clearance to deny the Chile international a tap-in.
Rovers got the goal their second-half efforts merited in the 89th minute when Hyam assisted a Ryan Hedges cross to the back post and the onrushing Ayala drove the home crowd wild by stooping to head in.
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