Everton stalemate leaves Blackburn in bottom three

Blackburn dropped back into the Premier League relegation zone on Wednesday after being held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at Ewood Park.

Rovers’ record has improved dramatically since Sam Allardyce took charge in mid-December and they have lost just two of their ten league games under the former Bolton manager.

But they paid the price for missing a series of good chances, allowing fellow strugglers Stoke City to leapfrog them by claiming victory over Bolton.

For Everton, two points dropped meant they missed out on the chance to close the gap on sixth-placed Arsenal to two points although David Moyes’s side remain on course to qualify for European competition again.

Last weekend’s victory at Hull had ended a worrying run for Allardyce’s side and provided a psychological boost by lifting them out of the relegation places.

That win came at a price, however, with the Rovers manager forced to make two changes to his winning line-up because of an injury to keeper Paul Robinson and the dismissal of Morten Gamst Pedersen.

Jason Roberts’ physical presence proved to be a continual threat to the Everton back-four who found the forward’s powerful runs difficult to handle.

And Roberts was at the heart of the move that set up Blackburn’s first real chance, releasing Roque Santa Cruz down the left hand flank where the Paraguayan teed up Keith Andrews.

Andrews had been the hero three days earlier when he struck the crucial winning goal at Hull.

But this time he failed to make the most of time and space in the visitors’ penalty area and eventually saw his snatched shot charged down.

Everton had been second best throughout much of the opening period but they finally clicked into life during the final five minutes before the interval.

And that was when Jason Brown proved he was a more than able stand-in for Robinson when he produced an outstanding save that left Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar shaking his head in disbelief.

South African international Pienaar was convinced he had put his side ahead when he connected sweetly with Phil Jagielka’s right win cross.

But Brown reacted superbly, throwing himself full length after catching sight of Pienaar’s volley late, to turn the ball beyond the post and concede a corner.

Concerned that Everton had gained the ascendancy before half-time, Allardyce responded by introducing Tugay for the ineffectual Vince Grella at the break.

The change had the desired effect when the home side carved out a clear opening in the 50th minute, only for Santa Cruz to slice a left foot shot wide when he should at least have tested Everton keeper Tim Howard.

Stephen Warnock was unfortunate to see a high, looping free kick drop onto the top of Howard’s crossbar.

But there were no excuses when Roberts failed to make more of a clear opportunity after being sent clear beyond the Everton backline by Tugay’s pass just seconds later.

The striker appeared to have done the hard work by holding off the backtracking Everton defenders as he advanced into the box. But he blew the chance by stabbing the ball too close to Howard and Blackburn’s best hope of easing their relegation fears was gone.