Andy Cole demonstrated against Charlton just why Graeme Souness bought him and
why Sir Alex Ferguson was prepared to sell him.
Cole marked his home debut for Blackburn by scoring his first Premiership goal
for his new club.
It was a quality right-foot strike which will make Rovers boss Souness feel
that Cole's £8million transfer fee was money well spent.
But Cole also missed three good chances to underline why Ferguson had opted
for Ruud van Nistelrooy ahead of the England striker this season.
In the form van Nistelrooy is in, he would probably have taken at least one of
those chances and that is why Ferguson was prepared to part with Cole, despite
his record of a goal every other game for Manchester United.
Cole received a great welcome from the Rovers fans before kick-off as he
finally made his home debut following his switch a fortnight ago.
Cole had scored his first goal in midweek against Sheffield Wednesday and the
Blackburn supporters wanted to see him get off the mark in the Premiership
against Charlton.
Rovers desperately need Cole's goals and they had managed to find the back of
the net just four times in their last eight league games.
This miserable return had contributed to their run of six defeats in their
last seven Premiership matches which had seen them slip dangerously close to the
relegation scrap.
Charlton threatened first when Brad Friedel saved well from Jason Euell and
that stop became even more important in the fifth minute when Rovers took the
lead.
Tugay played a one-two with Cole on the edge of the area and then curled a
delightful right-foot shot into the far corner of the net to register his third
goal for the club.
Then came the moment when every Rovers fan thought Cole was about to open his
Premiership account for Blackburn when he ran through on the right only for his
shot to rebound off the foot of the post.
It was all Blackburn and Charlton goalkeeper Dean Kiely denied Damien Duff
what would have been a goal of the month contender.
Duff collected the ball inside his own half on the left, accelerated past
Scott Parker, played a one-two with David Dunn and then hit a shot which Kiely
touched just past his right-hand post.
Rovers kept going and Matt Jansen had a header cleared off the line.
Cole had another chance to score when Dunn released him on the left, but his
first touch let him down and Kiely rushed out to smother his shot.
Then in first-half stoppage time came the goal all Ewood Park had been waiting
for. John Curtis began the move when he nutmegged Claus Jensen and fed Dunn, who
in turn slipped the ball on for Cole to score right-footed into the top right
corner.
Charlton were much improved in the second half and on 53 minutes they reduced
the arrears when Stig Inge Bjornebye sliced a clearance across his own box to
Euell, who scored left-footed past Friedel for his ninth goal of the season.
Suddenly Rovers looked vulnerable and Craig Hignett nicked the ball off the
toe of John Robinson, as he was about to shoot, before the Charlton midfielder
fired a drive over the bar.
Jensen was then denied an equaliser by the woodwork when the Dane cracked a
20-yard volley against the face of the bar with Friedel beaten.
The game then turned again in the 64th minute when Hignett broke upfield and
fed Jansen, who was brought down just outside the area by Parker and he was
promptly sent off by referee Neale Barry.
Parker's red card halted Charlton's revival and Cole should have made sure of
the points for Blackburn when he was played through on the left, but his shot
was saved by Kiely.
Hignett finished Charlton off five minutes from time when he marked his 32nd
birthday by scoring for the third match in succession and, two minutes from
time, Jansen netted to complete the scoring.
Teams
Blackburn: Friedel, Curtis, Berg, Taylor, Bjornebye, Hignett,
Tugay, Dunn, Duff, Cole, Jansen.
Subs Not Used: Flitcroft, Hughes, Johansson, Gillespie, Kelly.
Goals: Tugay 5, Cole 45, Hignett 85, Jansen 89.
Charlton: Kiely, Stuart (Svensson 82), Fish, Costa, Powell,
Fortune (Bart-Williams 76), Jensen, Parker, Robinson, Euell,
Lisbie (Johansson 76).
Subs Not Used: Konchesky, Roberts.
Sent Off: Parker (66).
Booked: Costa.
Goals: Euell 53.
Att: 23,365
Ref: N Barry (Scunthorpe).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook