Rovers' pyrotechnics blast Bent out of shape
By Guy Hodgson
Sven Goran Eriksson's personal checklist went along the lines of, firstly, assess the coruscating form of Darren Bent and Danny Murphy; secondly, find his hotel; thirdly, ring Nancy. But by the end of the day the first tick had turned into a question mark matched in size only by the Swede's wonderment at the fireworks display the town of Blackburn puts on when Rovers win 4-1.
Bent and Murphy blew it. They were the principal reasons why Charlton Athletic arrived in east Lancashire with five wins from five away matches in the Premiership and they were the chief flops as that record ended.
Bent, starved of service, did nothing to attract the attention while Murphy worked hard, but his passing was unreliable and, like all his colleagues, he spent most of the match failing to work out Blackburn's midfield play. As a case for call-up for England, you could hardly imagine much worse.
THE TIMES
On Saturday, Blackburn brought Charlton Athletic’s 100 per cent away record to a crashing end with the kind of incisive, free-flowing football that United, Hughes’s former club, could only dream about playing at the moment.
Sven-Göran Eriksson, the watching England head coach, could not fail to have been impressed, even if none of the entertainment was provided by Englishmen. Luke Young, Danny Murphy and Darren Bent, Charlton’s England hopefuls, were largely anonymous, outshone and outplayed by superior opponents.
Few epitomise the recent transformation at Ewood Park better than Brett Emerton, whose goal in the second minute opened the floodgates for Paul Dickov, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Craig Bellamy after Charlton had briefly threatened to make a game of it when Bryan Hughes scored nine minutes before half-time.
Brad Friedel made three great saves to deny Hermann Hreidarsson, Bent and Talal El Karkouri, but Hreidarsson was fortunate not to concede a penalty in the 47th minute when he handled Bellamy’s cross.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
By Mark Ogden
Blackburn's rehabilitation, which began with the 2-1 win at Manchester United in September, appears complete on the evidence of their impressive dismantling of Charlton. The visitors had won all five away games this season prior to the trip to Ewood Park, but they were blown away by Blackburn's pace and slick passing game.
The injury-enforced absence of Robbie Savage may have helped Blackburn to pursue their purist approach, with Tugay dominating the game like a grown man playing amongst 10-year-olds, but Charlton simply could not get anywhere near their opponents and it was depressing to watch their England hopefuls Darren Bent and Danny Murphy sink without trace in front of Sven-Goran Eriksson.
From the moment Brett Emerton opened the scoring with a stunning second-minute strike from 20 yards, Charlton were chasing shadows.
Further goals from Paul Dickov, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Craig Bellamy rendered Bryan Hughes' first-half goal for Charlton meaningless.
THE GUARDIAN
Stephen Bierly at Ewood Park
what joy there was among the unbelievers, to say nothing of the converted, when Rovers romped to victory over Charlton in a style of such blinding renaissance that even the Cecil B. DeMille curtain of biblical rain was barely noticed.
Charlton's 100% Premiership away record went down the plughole with barely a gurgle.
There was a variety, and freedom of spirit, with the admirable Tugay Kerimoglu at the hub, which overwhelmed Charlton during the opening third.
Brett Emerton's opening goal, when Jonathan Spector was pulled out of position and then the goalkeeper Stephan Andersen appeared to direct the ball into the net like a traffic cop, were individual errors although it was easy to see why Curbishley was more concerned by the failure of his midfielders, including the subdued Danny Murphy, to either make sure they were in the right areas to defend or simply to get a foot in early on. As thrillingly unexpected as much of Blackburn's approach work was, the Charlton midfield too often made a rod for their own backs and central defenders.