Premier League: Blackburn 1 Bolton 2

Bolton Wanderers piled more pressure on Steve Kean, sending them Blackburn bottom of English Premier League with a 2-1 win at Ewood Park.

A Mark Davies goal after just five minutes and a well-crafted Nigel Reo-Coker strike saw the visitors lead 2-0 at half-time in Tuesday’s match, in what was billed as a relegation showdown.

And, despite a spirited Yakubu-led comeback in the second half, the hosts failed to get anything from what was a pulsating Lancashire derby.

Under-fire Blackburn manager Kean made two changes from his side’s last outing, a home defeat to West Brom. Junior Hoilett proved fit enough after a hamstring strain to return in the place of Ruben Rochina, while Scott Dann’s groin injury meant a berth in defence for 20-year-old Grant Hanley.

The visitors made three changes after their loss to Fulham on Saturday, with Gretar Steinsson replacing Dedryck Boyata in defence and Martin Petrov and David N’Gog joining the attack in place of Kevin Davies and Darren Pratley.

With the importance of the fixture weighing heavy on both sides, it was Bolton who started brightest as Ivan Klasnic’s clever dummy after an incisive Petrov run gained them an early corner.

Though that set piece came to nothing, it took just two minutes for the visitors to assert their dominance with an early goal. A passage of play under zero pressure allowed N’Gog space and time in the box to cut inside and, after thinking twice about going down under a possible trip, the Frenchman squared for Davies to calmly slot home with his left.

Nigel Reo-Coker came close to doubling Bolton’s advantage after more good work from N’Gog, but Blackburn began to work their way back into the contest.

That was before Reo-Coker broke too easily from midfield, before playing Petrov in on the left wing after a clever support run.

Though the ball had initially looked too weighty, the winger did brilliantly to cut back first-time to Reo-Coker, who had continued into the box and swivelled brilliantly before putting the ball in the bottom corner.

The lead was no more than the visitors deserved and was enough to send several home fans for the exits before the half was up.

When the half-time whistle eventually came it was, inevitably, met with a chorus of boos from the home fans and left Steve Kean with an almost impossible team-talk.

Whatever Rovers’ beleaguered boss had to say at half-time, however, it almost worked immediate wonders as Hoilett jinked into the box to see Steven N’Zonzi sidefoot agonisingly wide.

The Canadian winger then twisted and turned in the Trotters box before side-footing across the box, but Simon Vukcevic’s back-heel attempt could not make sufficient contact and the danger was cleared.

Rather unsurprisingly, it was Hoilett who carved Rovers’ opportunity to get back into the game, when his clever ball after cutting in from the left found the Bolton defence standing and allowed Yakubu to finish deftly with a chip over Jaaskelainen on 67 minutes.

The Rovers fans sensed a comeback but Owen Coyle’s showed great determination with a number of blocks, first from Gary Cahill and later Klasnic.

Blackburn went agonisingly close when Samba missed by inches with a header, which could have given an entirely different gloss to the scoreline.

It meant Bolton held on for a much-needed three points, taking them above their rivals into 19th and sending Rovers bottom.

Whether Blackburn’s manager can survive this latest blow is yet to be seen.