Season stutters again as Rovers bag points

Michael Chopra, who turned 20 last week, was given his first Premiership start by Sir Bobby Robson, but it was his younger Blackburn counterpart, Paul Gallagher, who proved to be the matchwinner with a controversial second-half goal.

Chopra did find the net in the first half but the effort was chalked off for offside, whereas the 19-year-old Glaswegian was on hand to bundle home on 72 minutes.

Closer inspection revealed the Rovers youngster scored with his arm, but there were no real complaints from the Newcastle defence.

In truth Rovers were well worth their win and only a superb clearance from under his own crossbar prevented Andy Cole from scoring a second on his return to Tyneside.

A win could have taken Newcastle into that cherished fourth Champions League spot, but their third defeat at home in the Premiership was received with a chorus of boos by the large majority of the 51,648 crowd.

The game was marred by a freak injury to Blackburn Rovers midfielder Barry Ferguson, who fractured his kneecap in a challenge with Gary Speed.

With Lomana LuaLua set for a sojourn in the African Nations Cup, Robson decided it was time to blood young Tynesider Chopra.

It would have been a proud day for Gosforth High School in Newcastle as they provided both the Magpies strikers, with skipper Alan Shearer also a former pupil.

With Shay Given recovering from a shoulder injury, Chopra for LuaLua was the only change the Newcastle manager made from the team that drew with Leicester 48 hours previous to yesterday's game - Dyer still out with a stomach bug.

Jonathan Woodgate remained on the bench following his hamstring tear, with the former Leeds defender likely to be back in action on Saturday for the crucial FA Cup third-round clash at Southampton.

The game started slowly and, if anything, got slower as both sides struggled to find a cutting edge in attack.

In the 17th minute a foul on the edge of the box by Nolberto Solano on Lucas Neill gave former Rangers man Ferguson the chance to show his dead ball skills, but his effort was wide of the target.

Soon after, Tugay's header had Cole bearing in on goal but his shot from just outside the box was straight at Given.

On 22 minutes the Magpies had their best chance of the game. Hughes' deep cross was met by Newcastle skipper Shearer, but his downward header was well saved by Brad Friedel.

This appeared to spur on the home side who had their best spell but after 27 minutes a 50:50 clash between Speed and Ferguson left the Blackburn player crumpled on the turf.

The concerns were so great that Rovers' boss Graeme Souness came onto the pitch to see for himself how serious the injury was. His expression pointed to a long absence for his influential player, and his concerns were justified when it was later discovered Ferguson had fractured his kneecap.

The injury appeared to have a negative effect on proceedings with a scrappy section of play following the incident.

Newcastle dragged themselves out of their malaise on 38 minutes when Shearer attempted to break past the defence only to be crudely upended by Andy Todd 30 yards out on the right of the penalty area.

The defender was booked and Laurent Robert fired in the free kick but it was straight at Friedel who safely gathered.

On 42 minutes Shearer and Todd again went head to head but the Blackburn defender did enough to force Shearer to head wide from Solano's cross.

On 43 minutes the ground almost erupted to salute a debut goal for Chopra. Solano again supplied the ammunition from the right, but although Chopra finished from six yards, the strike was correctly ruled offside.

On the stroke of half-time Solano again threatened to create the opening only to see his cross fired horribly over by Speed.

The second half began with Rovers in the ascendancy, a super piece of skill by Tugay releasing Neill down the right.

Cole was lying in wait for his cross but, rather fortunately, Andy O'Brien's interception fell right at the feet of Given.

On 53 minutes a foul by Todd on Chopra gave Robert the chance to improve on his recent goal return, but his free-kick from 30 yards failed to really trouble Friedel.

Despite Newcastle's pressure Rovers continued to threaten on the break. A neat turn and spin by Gallagher allowed the impressive youngster to released strike partner Cole who, far too easily, lost the attentions of O'Brien.

But thankfully for the Republic of Ireland international his teammate for club and country, Given, was quickly out to save.

After 65 minutes Robert span away from the Rovers defence and into the box to tee up Solano, but the Peruvian failed to get any power into his shot.

Chopra got another chance to open his account five minutes later but shot straight at Friedel for his last involvement in the game.

He was replaced by LuaLua with Robson also bringing Leicester goal hero Darren Ambrose on for Solano.

A minute later the substitution provided almost immediate results - for Blackburn.

The defence failed to clear as Cole broke into the box and from Brett Emerton's resultant cross Gallagher bundled the ball home - only for closer inspection to reveal he had done so illegitimately.

Former Newcastle target Emerton - whose signature Robson chased on more than one occasion - was causing problems on the right but it was Cole who was the real danger.

Blackburn could have been two up soon after only for O'Brien to clear from under his own crossbar after another defensive mistake.

Bramble's failure to clear allowed Cole to head towards goal but O'Brien scissor-kicked the ball from his own goal.

Newcastle were desperately seeking an equaliser but creating few clear-cut chances.

On 84 minutes a superb piece of skill from substitute LuaLua allowed the striker to spin clear of the Rovers defence on the left of the penalty area only to see his cross easily cut out by Friedel.

With time running out Given decided to join the attack, but it proved to no avail as Rovers held on.

Result: Newcastle United 0 Blackburn Rovers 1.

Read more about Newcastle United FC here.