Blackburn Rovers moved up to third as they produced one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Championship. Tyrhys Dolan’s 86th-minute goal and an own goal by Ben Gibson (4) gave Rovers their second victory in five games, allowing them to defeat the Canaries away from home for the first time since August 1999. The home crowd voiced their opinions both during the game and more forcefully following the final siren, calling for the dismissal of head coach Dean Smith and criticizing his kind of play.
They started the dream in about five minutes. Sam Gallagher intended to receive a free kick from Tyler Morton, but the striker was unable to make a shot of his own. Instead, the ball struck Gibson and sailed into the bottom right corner. After being stunned by the early goal, Norwich took some time to settle in. Instead of going all out for the equalizer, which clearly infuriated the home crowd, Norwich persevered with a calm approach. The second half saw Norwich continue to try to find weaknesses, as evidenced by the significant amount of shots they took, but any gaps that did open up were quickly filled.
Despite producing just 0.03 anticipated goals, Rovers managed to maintain the lead at halftime. Dolan collected the ball on the right side and snuck in a second with the help of a tiny deflection off Sam McCallum as Blackburn then scored to put the game beyond their grasp for good. The hosts had one final opportunity to get one back when Josh Sargent headed from close range onto the underside of the bar, but Thomas Kaminski was quick and managed to clear the ball off the line.
For more football scores, click here
