Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Bournemouth: Cherries keep up play-off push with away win
- Published
Phillip Billing has scored in three successive Championship games
Bournemouth kept up their push for a place in the Championship play-offs with a comfortable win at Blackburn Rovers.
The visitors took a deserved lead when Phillip Billing swept home from 12 yards after Arnaut Danjuma's shot had been charged down.
After a spell of Rovers pressure at the start of the second half it was Danjuma who wrapped up the points with a clever nutmeg on a Rovers defender and a composed finish.
The hosts had a great chance to reduce the arrears in time added on but Asmir Begovic kept out Adam Armstrong's penalty.
The Cherries remain one place outside the top six but do have a game in hand on both Reading and Barnsley.
Bournemouth have now won their past three league games, with Denmark midfielder Billing scoring in each of them.
The former Huddersfield Town man has been pushed further upfield by boss Jonathan Woodgate and he once again backed up his manager's confidence in him with a well-taken shot to open the scoring.
Netherlands international Danjuma is another player who has found form at the right time for the south coast side and his fourth goal in his past five league appearances put this game beyond Tony Mowbray's men.
Midfielder Ben Pearson showed a wonderful touch to pirouette away from a challenge before passing to Danjuma, who pushed the ball past a home defender before slotting in.
Blackburn had more of the ball and more shots at goal but their day was summed up when Begovic saved Armstrong's penalty with his legs after Sam Gallagher was brought down in the area in injury time.
The Cherries host Coventry on Saturday, while Blackburn, who are winless in their past six games, travel to Cardiff.
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray:
"We gave a good account of ourselves in the first half without reaching the levels we know we can. We threatened their goal more than they threatened ours in the first half, yet you could always feel their individual quality.
"Their goal first half came out of nothing. At this moment, those sort of moments aren't going our way.
"This team can win football matches. We've been without our two main goalscorers for recent weeks. It's hard to win football matches when you don't score goals. Without (Bradley) Dack and Armstrong, it's an issue for the team to score.
"We missed another penalty, we had one or two half-chances, they kicked one off the line late on. Probably not enough. I'm not sure they played well enough to think they deserved to win 2-0."
Bournemouth boss Jonathan Woodgate told BBC Radio Solent:
"It was a professional performance. It's a sign of a good team when you don't play well but you win the game. Ugly Bournemouth, I'll take that all day long.
"You need to be clinical at this level and sometimes you've got to grind games out and we did that today.
"The clean sheet is important. If you do the basics well in a game then you have got a good chance. You build from strong foundations.
"It's not easy to come away from home and win 2-0."