Stoke City 0-3 Blackburn Rovers: Jon Dahl Tomasson's men close on play-off places
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Scott Wharton heads home for Blackburn at Stoke
Blackburn moved onto the fringes of the Championship play-off places with an emphatic victory at Stoke.
Scott Wharton's early header set Jon Dahl Tomasson's side on their way to a fourth successive away league win, Blackburn's best such run in the top two divisions for 22 years.
Wharton was given space by slack Stoke marking and headed Andrew Moran's corner in off a post after just four minutes, but six minutes later he was forced off following a clash of heads with Stoke striker Dwight Gayle.
Lacklustre Stoke, whose five-match unbeaten run came to an end, struggled to find their way back into the game and late goals from Andrew Moran and Sammie Szmodics secured the win.
Stoke had gone into the game with a sense of renewed optimism after four successive clean sheets had helped to earn them 11 points from their previous five games and climb from just outside the relegation zone to mid-table.
In a frantic opening 20 minutes both teams looked likely to score, with Szmodics lifting a great chance wide before Wharton's opener.
Stoke rallied but Daniel Johnson's burst into the box ended with a shot well saved by Rovers keeper Leopold Wahlstedt, and Alex Neil's side was given further encouragement when the head injury to Wharton forced a defensive re-jig.
Bae Jun-Ho, making his first start for seven weeks after Andre Vidigal reported unwell, twice went close to levelling but Szmodics poked another big chance wide.
Blackburn dug in for the rest of the game to frustrate a Stoke side inhibited by a lack of invention and improvisation, even though they dominated possession in the second half.
Rovers clinched the three points as Brighton loanee Moran was gifted a goal as Stoke keeper Jack Bonham - who had not conceded since stepping back into the team last month - feebly parried a Jake Garrett shot straight to his feet.
Szmodics retained his place as the Championship's leading scorer with a breakaway third goal in added time, rounding Bonham and placing the ball home for his 11th of the campaign.
Stoke manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Stoke:
"The first goal is an issue. They haven't looked particularly threatening from set-plays this season - I think they've scored one. So to concede from a set-play is really disappointing.
"They had chances in the first half and we had chances in the first half, but the biggest difference was that they took theirs and we didn't.
"At the start of the second half we took control of the game but without really fashioning too many good opportunities.
"Then we made changes and looked more likely to score - we had some good moments - and then conceded such a sloppy second goal that took the game away from us.
"The game then becomes more wide open and the third goal is so frustrating, it's one of them that makes the game look much different to what it actually was."
Blackburn manager Jon Dahl Tomasson told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"It was a brilliant performance and a brilliant result. We knew up front Stoke have been playing really well and have not conceded for the last four games.
"So it was tough, but we started the game really positively and created a chance after two minutes for Sammie (Szmodics) - it could have been 2-0 after four minutes.
"Then we scored an excellent goal from a set-piece but after that we were losing too many unnecessary balls and running too much with the ball. But the discipline in defending was extremely good.
"We knew Scott (Wharton) had scored before from corners, it's one of his qualities, and it was a great header. It's not great him coming off so early (with a head injury) but let's wait and see.
On four consecutive away wins: "It's about taking our chances. If you look at all of our performances this season, we could have won every game. We are probably the team in this league that creates the most chances."
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