Blackburn Rovers | 1-2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
(HT 1-1) | ||
Formica 20 | Fletcher 22 | |
Ward 47 |
Wolves came back from a goal down at Blackburn’s Ewood Park to take an opening day win to get their 2011/12 Barclays Premier League off to the best possible start.
Mick McCarthy’s Wolverhampton Wanderers only narrowly stayed in the Premier League in 2010/11, so fans who made the trip to the North West for their 2011/12 Barclays Premier League opener against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday 13th August 2011 must have been preparing for life at the bottom of the table once more when they saw Marco Formica score for the hosts on debut.
However, the 21,996 fans in Ewood Park had only two minutes to wait for a Wolverhampton response, which came when Steven Fletcher headed home a Matt Jarvis cross.
In the second half, Wolves saw Matt Jarvis get brought down in the penalty area by Salgado, and the chance to take the lead was presented as referee Friend pointed to the spot. Doyle stepped up confidently to take the spot-kick only to see Paul Robinson pull off a good save. From the rebound, however, the former England stopper could do nothing to prevent a well-hit left-footed volley from Ward from going into his bottom left corner.
Wolves then tightened up to attempt to hold their lead, which they accomplished with relatively little difficulty.
Blackburn v Wolves – Barclays Premier League 2011/12 – Squads
Blackburn Rovers |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
01 Robinson | 01 Hennessey |
02 Salgado | 05 Stearman (Foley 49) |
03 Olsson | 11 Ward |
31 Hanley | 14 Johnson |
07 Emerton (Rochina 46) | 16 Berra |
08 Dunn | 08 Henry |
10 Formica (Blackman 84) | 12 Hunt (Maierhofer 90) |
12 Pedersen (Goodwillie 72) | 17 Jarvis (Elokobi 75) |
15 Nzonzi | 24 O’Hara |
23 Hoilett | 10 Fletcher |
30 Roberts | 29 Doyle |
Substitutes | Substitutes |
13 Bunn | 31 De Vries |
32 Ribeiro | 03 Elokobi |
38 Anderson | 32 Foley |
39 Henley | 19 Hammill |
20 Rochina | 20 Milijas |
22 Blackman | 09 Ebanks-Blake |
25 Goodwillie | 33 Maierhofer |