Report | Argyle 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Another weekend, another Argyle home win, and another injury-time goal to send Home Park into raptures.
This time it was Morgan Whittaker the hero, heading in a winner to give Argyle a 2-1 win, and doing so six minutes into a seven-minute period of injury-time. It was the third game in a row at home that the Greens had scored in stoppage time.
It looked for a while like Michael Obafemi’s first Argyle goal was not going to be enough to earn the Pilgrims a victory against Blackburn Rovers at Home Park. The on-loan Burnley forward scored after 15 minutes in a game Argyle largely controlled, but Blackburn found an equaliser in the closing stages, through substitute Joe Rankin-Costello, and it seemed that a victory had been taken from the Greens’ grasp.
However, Whittaker timed his goal to perfection, in more ways than one.
Bali Mumba and Joe Edwards returned to the Argyle line-up for the game, playing as full-backs either side of the central defensive partnership of Kornel Szucs and Lewis Gibson, in front of goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw. Darko Gyabi, Adam Randell and Rami Al Hajj continued as the midfield trio, with Michael Obafemi returning to the centre forward position, flanked by Morgan Whittaker and Ibrahim Cissoko.
Argyle had an early scare when Makhtar Gueye was able, in the first minute, to get a ball into the box, which Gibson blocked and saw the ball fall into the hands of Grimshaw.
The game, though, quickly fell into a pattern of Argyle having the vast amount of the ball, with Blackburn looking to threaten on the counter-attack. This they did with a move that saw Gueye feed the run of Andreas Weimann. The Austrian was well chaperoned by Mumba, but it still took a save from Grimshaw to stop Rovers taking the lead.
Argyle made their possession count with a goal from their first chance of note on goal, bang on 15 minutes. It began with a sumptuous 50-yard pass from Whittaker to find Cissoko on the left wing. His ball into the centre found Obafemi, who hooked home from eight yards.
Tails up, Argyle looked to apply pressure to get a quickfire second. Constantly lively, Cissoko fizzed one on target that Aynsley Pears had to tip over, and shortly afterwards an eye-catching move, filled with one- and two-touch passes ended with Blackburn getting a timely block on Edwards as he made a characteristic far-post arrival.
Shortly after the half-hour point, Obafemi nearly got his second, and it would have been nearly all his own work. Making the sensible choice under pressure in own half, Randell lofted a ball over the Rovers backline, in the swirling breeze, but defender Danny Batth looked favourite to deal with it. Obafemi, though, hustled his way, using his low centre of gravity, in front of – almost underneath – Batth, and progressed into the area, firing not far wide of the target.
Gyabi was next up, receiving the ball near the halfway line from a neat Al Hajj pass that took out two Rovers players, and driving upfield. The ball to his left, to Cissoko, looked the best option, but Gyabi took the shot, and was very nearly justified. The ball beat Pears but went marginally the wrong side of the post from a Pilgrims persuasion.
Two chances fell to Cissoko in the opening minutes of the second half. For the first, he tried to craft an effort into the top corner following a lay-off by Al Hajj but lifted the shot too high. The second chance came as Cissoko arrived on the scene following a lovely clip to the far post by Obafemi, but the Dutchman slipped at the crucial moment, and the chance was lost.
Argyle were desperate for a second to give them a cushion in the game. Edwards, popping up in the box and shooting on target, forced Pears to push wide. Then, Randell stormed into the box with the ball, brought another save from Pears, and Al Hajj very nearly snaffled up the rebound.
Amongst all this, Blackburn reminded Argyle of their presence, and brought into focus what is always in the back of your mind as the leading team in games like this, the narrowness and fragility of the 1-0 scoreline, when Ryan Hedges drove a low 20-yarder which Grimshaw did well to save and hold.
The visitors brought on Todd Cantwell and leading goalscorer Yuki Ohashi in a revamp of their front line, seeking to shake up the prevailing tone of the game, which was Argyle’s quest for goal number two.
Cissoko continued to be the leading candidate, receiving from Whittaker, and dropping a shoulder to beat his man in the box, only to be foiled again by Pears at the near post.
Ryan Hardie came on for Obafemi just after the hour mark, and was quickly involved, threading a short but very sweet pass to Whittaker in the area, but the Argyle number 10’s connection was not quite there, and ball arched wide.
Rovers made another pair of changes, bringing on Amario Cozier-Duberry and Joe Rankin-Costello, and there was growing sense in the away end that the tide could be turning ever so slightly. Gibson was called into action to cover a dart by Ohashi, before the same player headed back into the six-yard area and must have been dismayed to see team-mates slipping and missing the ball like the Keystone Police Constabulary for the 21st century.
Substitutes affecting the game became the order of the day. Mustapha Bundu, moments after replacing Cissoko, exchanged passes with Hardie then brought a cracking low stop from Pears, before Hardie again looked to be provider, playing a beautifully inviting ball across the centre which Callum Wright slid in for but could not quite reach.
Blackburn won a corner on the left-hand side with six minutes of the 90 remaining, and having sent the ball in deep, it looked like they had lost their chance. As Hardie tried to mop up, he – and about 15,000 others – thought he had been fouled. Play went on, Blackburn stood a ball to their far post, and Rankin-Costello looped a header which eventually found the net.
Wayne Rooney was sent off for his protestations after the goal, which came as a cruel blow to Argyle, having had enough chances to win two games.
There were chances for both teams to win the game. Grimshaw had to be on his mettle to save from Ohashi, who had been very lively since his introduction, while at the other end an Edwards header across the six-yard area was begging to be finished off, but no-one obliged. Then, Wright headed goalwards from a Randell cross, but found it blocked in the crowded area.
It looked like Argyle were not destined for the win their dominance had deserved, but after an injury-time period where they lay siege to the Blackburn box, the break finally came.
Gibson had the presence of mind, after Rovers had partially cleared, to hit a diagonal ball to where Randell stood on the right wing. Randell, capping off another man-of-the-match performance, hit across a header into a perfect zone for Whittaker to meet it and nod home.
Cue, as they say, scenes. Put it this way, as good as the game was, the social media clip of the celebrating bench might be the highlight of the day.
Argyle: 31 Daniel Grimshaw, 2 Bali Mumba, 6 Kornel Szucs, 7 Ibrahim Cissoko (15 Mustapha Bundu, 71), 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 10 Morgan Whittaker, 14 Michael Obafemi (9 Ryan Hardie, 62), 17 Lewis Gibson, 18 Darko Gyabi (4 Jordan Houghton, 83), 20 Adam Randell, 28 Rami Al Hajj (11 Callum Wright, 71). Substitutes: 25 Marko Marosi (gk), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 22 Brendan Galloway, 35 Freddie Issaka, 39 Tegan Finn.
Goals: Obafemi 15, Whittaker 90+7
Booked: Randell 67, Houghton 88, Whittaker 90+7, Mumba 90+9
Blackburn: 1 Aynsley Pears, 3 Harry Pickering, 5 Dominic Hyam, 6 Sondor Tronstad, 9 Makhtar Gueye (23 Yuki Ohashi, 57), 10 Tyrhys Dolan (8 Todd Cantwell, 57), 14 Andreas Weimann (33 Amario Cozier-Duberry, 66), 15 Danny Batth (11 Joe Rankin-Costello, 66), 17 Hayden Carter, 19 Ryan Hedges (7 Arnor Sigurdsson, 75), 27 Lewis Travis (capt). Substitutes: 12 Balazs Toth (gk), 4 Kyle McFadzean, 21 John Buckley, 42 Lewis Baker.
Goals: Rankin-Costello 85
Booked: Hyam 22, Dolan 49, Rankin-Costello 90+9
Attendance: 16,635 (1,091 away)
Referee: James Linington
