Ben Brereton Diaz scored one and made another as Blackburn Rovers went top of the Championship with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.
Having not had a shot for much of the first half, star Rovers forward Brereton Diaz gave his side the lead with a curling left-footed effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Shortly after the interval the Chile international turned provider with some excellent work down the left wing to feed Sam Gallagher, who side-footed home from 18 yards.
Grady Diangana pulled one back soon after his strike took a deflection which wrong-footed Thomas Kaminski in the Rovers goal.
But the hosts held on to go two points clear at the top of the Championship – the only side with three wins from their first three games – while winless West Brom drop to 20th place with two points from three matches, after their first defeat.
Blackburn have won their first three games of a season for the first time since 1988, when Rovers went on to finish fifth in the old Second Division, before losing to Crystal Palace in the play-off final.
The Baggies started the brightest as Darnell Furlong headed a corner wide in the first minute, while Diangana’s 17th-minute far-post header drifted wide after a good ball from Jed Wallace.
Having created little it was a moment of magic from Brereton Diaz as he brilliantly controlled Callum Brittain’s pass, allowing him a bit of space to bend his shot around the defender.
The striker, who scored 22 goals for Rovers last season, turned provider for his side’s second in what would be their only other attempt on target.
Steve Bruce’s side should have levelled the game – Wallace had a free-kick that was deflected over the bar, while Karlan Grant just missed getting on the end of Callum Robinson’s flick with 22 minutes to go.
The Baggies’ best effort came in the 79th minute when Diangana’s cross was met by Karlan Grant, but Thomas Kaminski was on hand to pull off a superb save.
The game – which had water breaks in either half due to the extreme heat – had 11 minutes of stoppage time with Semi Ajayi almost getting an equaliser in the eighth, but he headed Wallace’s corner wide after Kaminski came out and failed to gather the ball.
Blackburn Rovers head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson told BBC Radio Lancashire:
“It was a fantastic result against one of the better sides in the league, one of the teams who were bigger in regards to parachute money as well.
“It was a great performance. We knew with those good players they would ask a lot of questions regarding how to cope with different situations.
“But my players did a tremendous job coping with those situations. They stuck together under difficult circumstances, not only the weather but the changes before and during the game, but you could see the team spirit.”
West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Bruce told BBC WM:
“We’ve created enough chances but unfortunately we haven’t taken them. Since I’ve been at the club since last February some of the performances have been very good without us being able to take our chances.
“Too often we’ve relied on [Karlan] Granty and that has to improve, we have to improve that area.
“It’s difficult, of course, but one we’re going to work on.”
Line-ups
Blackburn
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Kaminski
- 2BrittainSubstituted forMortonat 45′minutes
- 33PhillipsSubstituted forEdunat 71′minutes
- 4Ayala
- 3Pickering
- 27TravisBooked at 90mins
- 21BuckleyBooked at 77mins
- 9GallagherBooked at 5minsSubstituted forDolanat 74′minutes
- 8SzmodicsSubstituted forDackat 74′minutesBooked at 89mins
- 22Brereton
- 19Hedges
Substitutes
- 6Morton
- 7Edun
- 10Dolan
- 13Pears
- 23Dack
- 29Vale
- 40Wharton
West Brom
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Button
- 2FurlongSubstituted forPhillipsat 61′minutes
- 6Ajayi
- 4O’Shea
- 3Townsend
- 14MolumbySubstituted forRobinsonat 61′minutes
- 8LivermoreSubstituted forYokusluat 61′minutes
- 17J Wallace
- 19SwiftBooked at 37minsSubstituted forReachat 90+1′minutes
- 11Diangana
- 18Grant
Substitutes
- 5Bartley
- 7Robinson
- 10Phillips
- 20Reach
- 24Palmer
- 29Gardner-Hickman
- 35Yokuslu
- Referee:
- Josh Smith
- Attendance:
- 14,970
Live Text
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Match ends, Blackburn Rovers 2, West Bromwich Albion 1.
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Second Half ends, Blackburn Rovers 2, West Bromwich Albion 1.
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Attempt blocked. Tyrhys Dolan (Blackburn Rovers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Bradley Dack.
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Adam Reach (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ryan Hedges (Blackburn Rovers).
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Attempt missed. Semi Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jed Wallace with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Tayo Edun.
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Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Dara O’Shea.
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Foul by Conor Townsend (West Bromwich Albion).
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Bradley Dack (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Conor Townsend (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ryan Hedges (Blackburn Rovers).
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Attempt missed. Jed Wallace (West Bromwich Albion) left footed shot from outside the box is too high following a set piece situation.
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Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Adam Reach replaces John Swift.
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Lewis Travis (Blackburn Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Karlan Grant (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Lewis Travis (Blackburn Rovers).
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Foul by Semi Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion).
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Ben Brereton (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Bradley Dack (Blackburn Rovers) is shown the yellow card.