EPL: Blackburn vs. Sunderland

Yakubu sports his "Pray 4 Muamba" shirt after scoring. (Premierleague.com)

Don't look now, but the Blackburn Rovers are not only out of the bottom three, but actually putting some distance between themselves and the bottom of the table. Coming into this home match vs Sunderland. they were seeking back to back Barclay's Premier League wins for the first time this season. Sunderland played a tough FA Cup match with Everton on the weekend, and were dealing with several suspensions. The recipe was just right for a Rovers victory.

It was Rovers who got the first chance on goal. In the third minute Yakubu took a pass from Junior Hoilett and squirted free on goal. His shot beat the 'keeper, and looked to be going inside the near post, only to have Craig Gardner knock it off the line.

Blackburn continued to control most of the first half, as Sunderland looked horrible. Martin Olsson had two shots come close in the 10th minute. His first look was saved, the rebound fell to him, but he put the shot wide. Still Sunderland was able to hold on and a scrappy first half ended 0-0.

Blackburn really started to turn the screw in the second half. Mauro Formica sent a great volley in on goal in the 53rd minute only to have Mignolet knock it away. Then in the 59th minute, Mignolet punched away a long throw in, but it fell right to Hoilett, who slammed the volley into the back of the net to give Rovers the 1-0 lead.

At that point all eyes turned to Sunderland to see if they would respond. They really didn't, and continued to struggle. They did get one chance at an equalizer though. In the 79th minute the ball fell to Dong-Won Ji right in front of the goal, but he totally missed the sitter and Blackburn maintained the lead.

They expounded on their lead late and sealed the points. In the 86th minute, Bradley Orr sent a cross into the area and Yakubu rose and headed the ball into goal to make it 2-0. For his celebration, Yakubu pulled up his jersey and showed a "Pray 4 Muamba" shirt. Another classy move as the league rallies around the fallen Bolton midfielder.

Rovers held on for the 2-0 win and the 3 points actually moves them 6 points clear of the relegation zone. It's still not total safety, but you can see that the team is coming together a little bit, and I think they just might stay up. For Sunderland, it was a less than memorable performance, but they really didn't have much at stake in the league.