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Championship | Gameweek 19

Dec 16, 2020 at 7.45pm UK

Ewood Park

Blackburn
2 - 1
Rotherham

Elliott (80'), Armstrong (90+7')
Douglas (58'), Nyambe (90+1')

FT(HT: 0-0)

Smith (61')
Ihiekwe (38'), Lindsay (65'), Jones (90+4')

Adam Armstrong nets late winner as Blackburn Rovers beat Rotherham United

| 16 December 2020

Armstrong nets late winner as Blackburn beat Rotherham

Rovers' leading man had endured a quiet evening but was alert to react quickly in the final minute of injury time to slam home from close range.

Adam Armstrong scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time as Blackburn came from behind to snatch a 2-1 Championship win over Rotherham.

Rovers' leading man had endured a quiet evening but was alert to react quickly in the final minute of injury time to slam home from close range.

It looked like being a frustrating evening for the home side, who were out of sorts and fell behind through a well-taken strike in the 61st minute through Michael Smith, which the visitors deserved on the balance of play.

Harvey Elliott's second goal in as many games restored parity with 10 minutes to go but a grandstand finish never looked on the cards until Armstrong's late, late show – his 16th goal of the season in all competitions.

Blackburn move up to 11th, four points from the play-offs, while Rotherham's miserable away run now reads seven defeats on the spin.

Daniel Ayala replaced the injured Derrick Williams from the weekend defeat to Norwich – one of two changes for Blackburn. The Millers were unchanged after the welcome win against Bristol City.

The first half was not easy on the eye as neither side imposed themselves.

Elliott's vision early on produced a half chance for Sam Gallagher but he was at full stretch and could only hit the roof of the net with his lob.

The best chance of the half fell to Rotherham in the 16th minute when Matthew Olosunde found space on the right and his cross found Smith but the forward completely missed the target from close range.

It took 34 minutes before any save of note was required and it was easy enough for visiting goalkeeper Viktor Johansson, who parried an effort to safety after Joe Rothwell fired goalwards.

The second period started in similar fashion with Armstrong and Kyle Vassell both sending efforts off target, but it was the Millers who made the breakthrough with their first shot on target.

Smith atoned for his earlier miss in style as he latched onto a flick from Matt Crooks and confidently swept the ball into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards for his third goal of the season.

Crooks missed a glorious chance soon after when he fired wide with the goal at his mercy.

That miss proved costly as Rovers equalised 10 minutes from time when Armstrong's perfectly-weighted pass found Elliott and he showed superb composure to gather the ball before hammering beyond Johansson from 12 yards.

Substitute Freddie Ladapo headed into the side netting for Rotherham and Rovers made them pay at the death when a long ball was nodded across the box by Ayala and Armstrong showed the instincts of a predator to react and hammer home the winner.