Sammie Szmodics put Blackburn on the way to a vital win with the opening goal 22 minutes from full-time
Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics scored twice to see off champions Leicester and keep Rovers in the Championship.
The attacking midfielder opened the scoring with Rovers under pressure with relegation rivals Birmingham, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday all in front, and he added a second late in the game, his 33rd of the season, to make sure of a vital win.
Szmodics has had an incredible season in a team that has gradually slid into the relegation fight, and he ran from half-way for his first goal before beating goalkeeper Mads Hermansen to the ball to score the second into an empty net.
That put a blot on a day for Leicester before they were crowned as champions, with Aynsley Pears producing a fine double save to deny Harry Winks and Kelechi Iheanacho.
- Published4 May
Blackburn began the game knowing that a point would be enough to keep them in the Championship, but that was unlikely to be easy against a Foxes side that was preparing for a post-match trophy presentation and had also been challenged by manager Enzo Maresca to notch up 100 points.
Blackburn had won two of their three previous away games and began brightly against a Leicester side that looked like it just wanted to get on with the celebration party.
Sam Gallagher, Callum Brittain and Szmodics all went close, but Jamie Vardy reminded them of the vulnerability of their situation when he broke clear and lifted a shot over Pears, with the ball going just wide.
The anxiety of the sold-out away end increased after the break with news that the three teams below Blackburn - Birmingham, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday - were all winning. A Leicester goal would have seen John Eustace’s side plunge into the bottom three.
It was Szmodics who struck, however, on 68 minutes, taking the ball off Jannik Vestergaard on half-way and racing clear before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
That roused Leicester from their reverie, with Marc Albrighton, probably playing his final game for the Foxes, heading on to the roof of the net, Harry Pickering clearing a Wilfred Ndidi cross off the line and Pears producing a fabulous save to push a Winks shot on to the bar before saving Iheanacho’s follow-up header.
With both sets of fans starting to party, Szmodics wrapped up the three points by running on to Joe Rankin-Costello’s pass ahead of the advancing Hermansen and striding away to tuck the ball in the empty net.
John Eustace's three wins since taking over at Blackburn were all away - at Sunderland, Leeds and Leicester
Post-match reaction
Leicester City head coach Enzo Maresca told BBC Radio Leicester:
“The best feeling is to see all the fans happy. If we think about less than a year ago, some of them were very sad, kids crying.
“To see them happy, to be honest I wake up and work every day for this moment.
“It’s about the players. They have been fantastic because they’ve been open minded since day one.
“If we understand this is just the start, it’s fantastic. It’s just the beginning of something important. If we understand this, we are going in the right direction.
“The Championship is very tough, very long but the Premier League is also very tough so we have to be competitive. Now it’s time to relax and enjoy but for sure, we have to be ready.
“We played 53 games, it’s a long season. We competed every game. I don’t remember a single game we didn’t compete. It’s important to compete in every game."
Blackburn manager John Eustace told BBC Radio Lancashire:
“The effort of the players was fantastic. They eventually got us through, and the support from the fans got us through as well.
“We’ve been doubted on a number of occasions but have bounced back. Five defeats in 18 games is a fantastic return, from when we came in.
“It’s important that people realise we had to change the character, the culture, and the environment, and we’ve had a lot of players playing through injury.
“[Szmodics] has been amazing. Every team needs a goalscorer and we’ve got one. I’ve talked about his work rate and endeavour and when you work as hard as he does for the team, you get your results.”
