Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Newcastle United: Mid-Table Outfits Draw Blank

First-half efforts from the pair rebounded away to safety as the teams played out a 0-0 draw at Ewood Park. It was the traveling Magpies who felt the most frustrated by the score-line as they took control in the second period but couldn't force a breakthrough.

For Rovers, manager Steve Kean made four changes to the side that lost 4-3 to Wigan Athletic last weekend. David Dunn, Steve Nzonzi and strike pair Roque Santa Cruz and Nikola Kalinic was drafted in at the expense of Brett Emerton, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Jason Roberts and Benjani.

Visiting boss Alan Pardew decided to stick with the same selection that started in the remarkable 4-4 draw with Arsenal. This meant new signing - and former Rovers player - Shefki Kuqi had to settle for a spot on the substitute's bench as Peter Lovenkrands and injury worry Leon Best led the line up top.

The two sides contributed seven goals on last Saturday's goal-fest and continued in the same spirit from kick-off as the action went from end-to-end.

It was the visitors who first threatened in the fourth minute after left-back Jose Enrique broke free. His low center found Joey Barton on the back-stick but Ryan Nelsen was on high alert to steal the midfielder's cut-back to Kevin Nolan and clear to safety.

Rovers weren't worried by their opponents start and should have gone ahead five minutes later. A deep cross allowed Christopher Samba to use his huge frame to leap above the Newcastle defense and flick back to the onrushing Santa Cruz.

To the frustration of the Ewood Park support, the unmarked Paraguayan then hammered his close-range header against goalkeeper Steve Harper's near-post when it looked harder to miss.

The sides continued to trade territory before Spaniard Enrique again came to the fore in the 14th minute. His perfectly weighted long-ball from inside his own half dropped over Samba's head and onto the pacey Peter Lovenkrands' foot, but his delicate lob landed on Paul Robinson's crossbar.

Neither side was prepared to relent and Rovers pushed on once more in the 17th minute. Winger Junior Hoilett controlled the ball on the edge of the Newcastle penalty area before his cross was stabbed clear by Fabricio Coloccini.

The ball was then worked to Dunn, however, the playmaker could only fire high and wide from 25-yards when well positioned.

The tempo from the helter-skelter opening stage gradually ebbed away as the half progressed, though Newcastle's left-flank continued to be a potent weapon. After earlier crosses had been repelled, the constantly overlapping Enrique's center was nodded away for a corner by Nelsen in the 31st minute.

Barton was then given a chance to show off his prowess from set-pieces and his ball was sliced wide by the off-balanced Best.

Enrique's pace was a constant thorn in the aged right-back Michel Salgado's side and five minutes later he was inches away from finding Lovenkrands but the cross fell into Robinson's hands.

While the teams continued to push in the remaining ten minutes, neither could create a further opening before referee Steve Atwell blew his whistle for half-time.

Newcastle began the second period on the ascendancy as their greater vibrancy started to tell. First, Barton could only curl wide from the edge of the area on 47 minutes after a deflected Jonas Gutierrez fell his wide.

The controversial midfielder's influence began to grow and five minutes later he picked out Coloccini with a deep corner. The Argentine center-back chested down the pass and produced a fine reaction save from Robinson as he looked to repeat his strike against Arsenal with another thunderous effort.

Rovers sparked into life again in the 59th minute when half-time substitutes Roberts and Pedersen combined on the left flank. The Norway international's cross was chested into Dunn's path by Kalinic, but the schemer was crowded out by Coloccini and Enrique.

Newcastle soon went back on the front-foot and Best again failed to remain balanced in the 66th minute. The striker slipped over a pass from the increasingly influential Barton, with the ball then being curled wide by Gutierrez.

A flurry of substitutes soon followed from the visitors and this provided Rovers with a chance to gain a foothold. Roberts drew derision from the crowd in the 79th minute when he dallied on the ball inside the box when found by Emerton.

Harper then had to acrobatically swat away a cross from Pedersen, as replacement striker Nile Ranger diligently swept up.

The frantic box-to-box action kicked back into life in the final 10 minutes as the teams searched for a valuable winner. Pardew even threw on Kuqi just before injury-time but the search for three points was in vain as neither side crafted another opening.

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