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| October 31, 2001 | Wednesday | Shaba’an 13, 1422 |
Leicester hold Blackburn to end losing streak
BLACKBURN (England), Oct 30: Leicester City ended a run of five defeats with a goalless premier league draw at Blackburn Rovers Monday, giving manager Dave Bassett his first point after replacing Peter Taylor almost three weeks ago.
Free-scoring Blackburn never got into their stride in a messy game that saw six home players booked but very little in the way of goalscoring chances.
The point took Rovers up two places to 10th on 14 points while Leicester remained last on six.
Blackburn had won their previous three home games, the last being a 7-1 thrashing of West Ham United, and drew 3-3 at Arsenal last week.
Only Arsenal and Manchester United have scored more goals this season but there was little evidence of their firepower in a dire first half. Leicester spurned the only clear chance a minute before the break as a mistake by Stig Inge Bjornebye left Ade Akinbiyi through on goal only for the troubled striker to shoot straight at goalkeeper Brad Friedel then see the rebound bounce off his chest past the post.
Akinbiyi, the club’s record signing when he joined from Wolves for five million pounds ($7.25 million) in July 2000, has now failed to score in nine league games and has been a target for the Leicester fans after a series of bad misses.
Things picked up for Blackburn slightly in the second half with Andy Impey close with a firm low shot after 55 minutes and Marcus Bent just wide with a header but Leicester goalkeeper Ian Walker was untroubled all night as his team earned a precious point.
“It was almost like a victory, the way our season has been so far,” Leicester defender Matt Elliott told Sky Sports TV.
“It wasn’t the most spectacular of games but it’s a start. For us, that was quite a solid performance.
Blackburn boss Graeme Souness did not try to hide the poor quality of his side’s efforts.
“Without a shadow of a doubt that was our worst performance in the premier league,” he said.
“There was very little we can take from that game and we have to do better than that.”—Reuters
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