Barclays Premier League

Dzeko breaks duck for City

GettyImages

Edin Dzeko celebrated his first Premier League goal in ten appearances

Scoring Summary

Blackburn Rovers	Manchester City
	Edin Dzeko (75')

Match Stats

Blackburn Rovers

Manchester City

14(3)	Shots (on Goal)	12(5)
15	Fouls	16
4	Corner Kicks	6
0	Offsides	0
33%	Time of Possession	67%
2	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
4	Saves	3

Teams

Blackburn Rovers	Manchester City
1 Paul Robinson	25 Joe Hart
28 Phil Jones	19 Joleon Lescott
4 Christopher Samba	4 Vincent Kompany
5 Gael Givet	13 Aleksandar Kolarov
27 Míchel Salgado	5 Pablo Zabaleta
8 David Dunn	18 Gareth Barry
2 Jermaine Jones	34 Nigel De Jong
3 Martin Olsson	45 Mario Balotelli
7 Brett Emerton	42 Yaya Touré
30 Jason Roberts	21 David Silva
21 Benjani Mwaruwari	11 Adam Johnson
Substitutes
13 Mark Bunn	Shaun Wright-Phillips 8
12 Morten Gamst Pedersen	Stuart Taylor 12
9 Nikola Kalinic	Patrick Vieira 24
20 Ruben Rochina	James Milner 7
41 Mame Biram Diouf	Jô 27
31 Grant Hanley	Edin Dzeko 10
10 Mauro Formica	Dedryck Boyata 38
Substitutions
Ruben Rochina for David Dunn (63)	Edin Dzeko for Adam Johnson (72)
Nikola Kalinic for Benjani Mwaruwari (71)	Patrick Vieira for Mario Balotelli (84)
Mame Biram Diouf for Gael Givet (85)	Dedryck Boyata for David Silva (90)
Yellow Cards
Jermaine Jones (49)	Gareth Barry (30)
Brett Emerton (70)	Mario Balotelli (52)
	Nigel De Jong (59)
· Rosters: Blackburn Rovers | Manchester City

Edin Dzeko grabbed the winner for Manchester City with his first goal at the tenth attempt in the Premier League.

• Relief for Dzeko after first goal
• Jolly: Dzeko finally shows his value

In the process the Bosnian, a £27 million buy from Wolfsburg in January, propelled Roberto Mancini's side towards a top-four finish and a place in the Champions League.

Not only that, Dzeko made sure Blackburn continue to worry about relegation after their tenth league match without a victory.

After beating Manchester United and securing a place in the FA Cup final it was no surprise City started brightly. However, they failed to make their possession pay in the first half especially and Blackburn began to grow in confidence.

But in all came right for Mancini in the end and they are now four points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham.

City almost took the lead in the third minute with a sweeping move that unlocked the home side. Pablo Zabaleta delivered the ball from the right and Gareth Barry touched it to David Silva. The Spanish forward connected perfectly only to see his shot hit the post and come back out.

Blackburn again found themselves on the back foot four minutes later when City won a free-kick 25 yards out but Mario Balotelli's effort was gathered cleanly by goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

The visitors kept up the pressure and Zabaleta saw his cross cleared by Phil Jones in the 17th minute. From the resulting corner Barry's header was cleared off the line by Michel Salgado.

Play switched down the other end and Jason Roberts had a claim for a penalty dismissed by referee Andre Marriner following a challenge by Vincent Kompany. Then Phil Jones showed some invention to go on a galloping run and link up with Martin Olsson before being crowded out.

City responded and Balotelli carved out an opening for himself in the 39th minute only to see his effort blocked.

The momentum was with Blackburn and Chris Samba saw his towering header go narrowly wide of the post a minute later after being set up by Salgado.

City were being stretched and Roberts was allowed room to deliver the ball into the area but Zabaleta made the clearance.

City started the second half like they did the first and Robinson took no chances and pushed over a close-range header from Yaya Toure following a cross from Silva.

However, Blackburn almost took the lead in the 50th minute following a swift counter attack. Brett Emerton picked out Roberts and his header appeared to be going wide only for Olsson to get on the end of it and send a shot into the side netting.

But it was City who almost edged in front in the 68th minute when Silva carved out an opening only to find the wrong side of the post with his curling effort.

Adam Johnson was replaced by Dzeko in the 72nd minute and the he responded three minutes later with the decisive goal.

Silva supplied the cross and Phil Jones only succeeded in sending his clearance straight to Dzeko, who smashed it home without hesitation.

Blackburn, however, should have drawn level in the 87th minute but Phil Jones headed over from close range and then Olsson's effort was blocked by Joe Hart in stoppage time.

These are worrying times for the home side who remain one point outside the bottom three with four matches to go.