Blackburn 3-1 Portsmouth

Jason Roberts scored two as Blackburn came from behind to claim a crucial victory which keeps Portsmouth bottom of the Premier League.

Jamie O'Hara provided the highlight of a dour first half when he lashed home from 30 yards to put Portsmouth ahead.

Blackburn were level shortly after the break as half-time substitute Roberts poked in after Ryan Nelsen's knockdown.

Nelsen headed the hosts in front from David Dunn's corner and Roberts turned in a third from Benni McCarthy's cross.

Roberts and McCarthy were introduced by Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce at the interval and there can be little doubt that their introduction turned the game on its head.

The win was Blackburn's first in three league matches and it moves them up to 13th, yet for long periods it seemed as though they would be plunging further towards the relegation zone.

606: DEBATE

" Was a bit worried at half-time - massive, massive win "

Portsmouth, who stay rooted to the foot of the table, had looked on course for their third successive victory in all competitions and fourth match without defeat.

But their defence crumbled in the second half and once Roberts levelled matters on 53 minutes, they looked resigned to the inevitable.

With both teams struggling at the wrong end of the table a frenetic start should have been expected.

But the lack of quality on display was all too evident and that rendered goalscoring chances few and far between early on.

More often than not that ball was being pumped aerially and, even when it was kept on the ground, countless passes went astray.

Blackburn's most threatening route to goal appeared to be the long throw of Morten Gamst Pedersen, while Portsmouth's preferred option was hopeful strikes from long range.

Fortunately for the visitors, and the game, it was one such effort which broke the deadlock.

O'Hara collected Aruna Dinadane's pass in acres of space and skidded a drive into Paul Robinson's bottom left-hand corner.

Robinson may feel he could have done better and it was not the first time in recent weeks the England hopeful has been beaten from distance.

The home fans were quick to voice their disapproval and although Blackburn began to push for an equaliser, Portsmouth comfortably repelled everything thrown their way and looked threatening on the counter-attack.

Allardyce responded to his team's inept first-half display by replacing the ineffective Pedersen and El-Hadji Diouf with Roberts and McCarthy.

Suddenly the Blackburn supporters were re-energised and the players responded by laying siege to the Portsmouth goal.

They were back on level terms when Nelsen cushioned Dunn's corner down for Roberts to spin Frederic Piquionne and nudge his finish past Portsmouth goalkeeper David James.

The visitors threatened sporadically - O'Hara going close with a clever curling effort - but Blackburn were firmly in the ascendancy.

Now full of confidence and determination, they began to flood forward in search of a second goal and it duly arrived when Nelsen met another Dunn corner with a thumping header.

There were question marks over referee Andre Marriner's decision to award a corner, but there was no excuse for Portsmouth's slack marking.

And any hope Pompey had of snatching a point evaporated when the superb Dunn fed McCarthy on the left and, after the South African fizzed in a precise low centre, Roberts got ahead of Mark Wilson to finish with a side-foot at the front post.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce:
"The first 45 minutes was well below out best and we haven't seen that at home this season. I can forgive them at the end because we've won the game.

"The quality we were looking for in the first half we got in the second. The substitutions have paid dividends and it's the quality of our three goals today that has made the difference.

"It was the most crucial game for us this season because of the position we and Portsmouth are in and with the international break coming up.

"Even at 2-1 anything could have happened. The third goal killed them off and I was delighted.

Portsmouth manager Paul Hart:
"If you don't defend set pieces against Blackburn you are really in trouble, but we had defended them magnificently in the first half and played well.

"We were in control and they had put us in no real trouble. I don't think we've been undone by any great genius, we've been done on set pieces.

"We've made a lot of progress. I think the problems we had in the summer were well documented.

"This is a setback but we're used to picking ourselves up and we'll do it again."