Blackburn 1 – 1 Stoke

Augustus Kargbo scored his first goal for Blackburn to rescue a 1-1 draw against Stoke.

Valerien Ismael’s struggling side looked set for a defeat after Million Manhoef grabbed the opener for Stoke in the second half.

But Blackburn rallied and Kargbo, who faced heavy criticism for his role in Swansea’s winner in midweek, lashed in a late leveller from close range.

Kargbo struck the woodwork before the end as Rovers almost forced an improbable winner, but Blackburn will be relieved to have gained a deserved point.

By contrast, Mark Robins will wonder how his Stoke side squandered their control of the game, and they are now winless in four Championship matches.

Stoke signalled their intent with just 11 seconds on the clock when a headed clearance fell to Sorba Thomas but the former Rovers loanee’s volley was calmly pushed away by Balazs Toth.

Lewis Miller denied Divin Mubama a certain opener midway through the half when he got a vital touch to divert Tomas Rigo’s cross away as the visitors continued to threaten.

But Rovers had the best chance of the half when Ryoya Morishita’s pinpoint cross found the unmarked Andri Gudjohnsen six yards out but he could not control and Viktor Johansson cleared.

The Potters got the goal they had threatened in the 49th minute as, although there was an element of luck, Rovers fell asleep and were punished when Thomas fed Manhoef on the right and his shot deflected over Toth and in.

Manhoef engineered another chance when he cut in from the right but this time Toth was able to push to safety.

Ismael rung the changes and two of his substitutes combined in the 77th minute when Yuki Ohashi controlled well and found the run of Dion De Neve, whose strike from a narrow angle was repelled by Johansson’s outstretched leg.

At the other end, Manhoef cut inside again and tried his luck with a powerful effort that Toth got down to his left to parry away as Rovers remained in the game.

It proved crucial as Blackburn equalised eight minutes from time and it owed much to the persistence of Todd Cantwell, who drove into the area and found Kargbo. The substitute showed superb composure to control before hammering into the bottom right corner from six yards.

The Sierra Leone international nearly completed a remarkable turnaround with four minutes remaining when a long throw fell to him at the back post but his ferocious effort cannoned off a post.

The managers

Blackburn’s Valerien Ismael:

“I think it was important to show a reaction after his mistake in the last game.

“It’s always about the reaction. Mistakes happen in football, everyone makes mistakes and it’s important how is the reaction straightaway after the mistake on the pitch? And AK made the perfect reaction we expected from the football player.

“I was pleased with the reaction. He made the mistake, apologised in front of the team. We say now it’s on the pitch because it’s the best apology you can do.

“I think especially when you see the last 20 minutes, we deserved to score two goals at least. They had a couple of transition in the second half when we made mistakes but I think really at the end, we were on the front foot pushing, created big chances and the momentum was on our side.

“If you see the data in the second half, we were clearly on the front foot. That effort you put in, you expect a little bit more for your team.”

Stoke’s Mark Robins:

“I think that whatever we did, we were sloppy so it gave them a leg up, it gave them a way back into a game they should have never been involved in. Credit to them, they smelt that we weren’t quite at it.

“We started to make some ridiculous decisions and throw the points away. Ending up coming away with one is a relief at the end of it.

“We shouldn’t be talking about that. We should be talking about a decent and professional performance. But credit to them because they’ve come back and nearly won the game.

“I’ve got to say I’m disappointed with it but, for whatever reason, conditions made it difficult.

“We weren’t in control of things with our first touch, decision making on the ball, or type of pass, weight of pass, direction of pass, final ball was missing. The detail wasn’t there on anything.”