Rovers give Souness chance to relax

Vratislav Gresko's first goal in English football earned Blackburn a much-needed win over Tottenham and allowed Rovers boss Graeme Souness to relax a little after being sent from the bench to the stand.

The fiery Scot spent most of the second half in the directors' box after falling foul of match referee Graham Poll. But he was a happy man after the full-back won a tight game 12 minutes from time when his shot looped up off the luckless Steven Carr and sailed past Kasey Keller.

It was just about what Rovers deserved from a much-improved second-half display, although Keller can count himself unfortunate to have ended up on the losing side after pulling off a succession of fine saves.

Chances were at a premium in the first half with Dwight Yorke forcing Keller into his only save with a firm 14th-minute header which lacked the direction to trouble the keeper, while opposite number Brad Friedel had little to occupy him, although it took a brave block from Brett Emerton to keep out Stephane Dalmat's drive on 38 minutes.

Spurs responded better after the restart with Helder Postiga testing Friedel with a header from an offside position and then just failing to direct a Mauricio Taricco cross on goal.

In the meantime, Souness had been banished from the touchline after Poll took exception to his comments, and he was forced to watch the remainder of the game from the stands.

The Scot's decision to replace Nils-Eric Johansson with the more attack-minded Steven Reid at the break began to pay dividends as Rovers pinned Spurs back inside their own half, Emerton heading a Gallagher cross into the side-netting.

Emerton turned provider on 58 minutes when he got free down the left and crossed for Yorke to deflect the ball past Keller, but Postiga was in the right place to block and then clear.

Spurs skipper Carr created a glorious opportunity for Keane with a lung-bursting run upfield.

The Republic of Ireland international played his compatriot into acres of space on the left, but he hammered his left-foot effort high over to let Rovers off the hook.

The visitors almost paid for that miss 16 minutes from time when Yorke pulled away from his marker at the far post to head a Gallagher cross towards the bottom corner, but Keller got down well to save bravely.

The American excelled himself once again within three minutes when he plucked Barry Ferguson's well-struck drive out of the air, but there was little he could do to keep out Gresko's deflected shot.