Blackburn halted their Championship winless run and moved into the play-off places as John Eustace’s men defeated Portsmouth 3-0 at Ewood Park.
In a rescheduled contest that had been postponed in November due to a waterlogged pitch caused by Storm Bert, it was the away side who went closest in the first half when Colby Bishop, looking certain to score, struck against the crossbar.
But substitute Makhtar Gueye headed Rovers in front just past the hour mark and Callum Brittain cracked in a second in the 71st minute, moments after Bishop had seen a header cleared off the line and Portsmouth – as they had not long before the opener – appealed for a penalty in vain.
Callum Brittain celebrates scoring Blackburn’s second
Andreas Weimann added the third soon after as Blackburn, 1-0 victors in the FA Cup at Middlesbrough at the weekend, recorded a first triumph in six league outings and moved up two places to fifth.
Andreas Weimann has scored five Championship goals this season
John Mousinho’s Pompey, who had dropped into the relegation zone thanks to Cardiff’s 1-1 draw with Watford on Tuesday, are now second bottom, a point adrift of the 21st-placed Bluebirds, after their fourth loss in five league games.
Eustace: Subs made the difference
Blackburn manager John Eustace:
“We’re delighted with the three points because it was a big game for us tonight.
“It was important that we put things right following back-to-back home defeats and I thought we did very well in the first 20 minutes and could have scored a couple of goals.
“We lost our way a bit in the first half and Portsmouth made it very difficult for us.
“It was important that we got the changes right on 55 or 60 minutes, which we did, and I thought they made a huge difference.”
