Rovers in ruins after Greek defeat
by RivalsDM
The defeat, Rovers' first since April 15 last year, leaves manager Mark Hughes' side facing an uphill task in the second leg at Ewood Park in a fortnight if they are to reach the group stages.
Hughes and his players had talked promisingly before the match of potentially going all the way in the competition this season, but that now appears a forlorn hope following this result.
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Yet for half an hour Rovers appeared comfortable as Larissa barely posed a threat, but then Hughes' side hardly put their opponents under any intense pressure either.
Their initial ease was aided by the fact there was no 30 degree Celsius heat to put them in a sweat, as had been prevalent earlier in the day, due to cloud cover and a strong breeze.
The game was also being stage away from their home turf in Larissa at the Panthessaliko Stadium in Volos - 40 miles away from their own Alkazar Stadium as it does not meet UEFA standards.
Given the apparent advantages, Blackburn were unable to make them count, with their best opportunity of a wretched match arriving in the 19th minute.
A long throw from Morten Gamst Pedersen was taken on the chest by Benni McCarthy on the edge of the six-yard area.
In one swift movement McCarthy swivelled onto the ball, striking a volley goalwards that smacked into the face of German defender Marco Foerster.
Then came those 90 miserable seconds as Rovers found themselves two goals adrift and staring at an unlikely early exit from the competition.
Walter Smith spent £4.5million on Bakayoko when he signed the Ivory Coast striker from Montpellier in October 1998.
It is fair to say Bakayoko failed to inspire during his time at Goodison Park, scoring just four goals in 23 appearances before being shipped on to Marseille for £4million.
However, two of those goals came in a 2-1 win for Everton at Ewood Park in March 1999, a result that helped send Blackburn crashing out of the Premier League.
His strike on this occasion was a touch fortunate as the 30-year-old let fly from 30 yards, only for his shot to take a slight deflection off Ryan Nelsen.
That was enough to help beat Brad Friedel, who was standing on the edge of his six-yard box, as he could do nothing but paw at thin air as the ball flew over him and into the roof of the net.
Moments later and further travesty followed, this time courtesy of Blackburn's own making, and in particular a woeful back pass from just inside his own half from Brett Emerton.
Seizing onto the underhit ball, Nektarios Alexandrou was initially denied by a spread-eagled Friedel, while Andre Ooijer then blocked Bakayoko on the rebound.
The loose ball, though, ran to Giorgos Fotakis who teed up Cleyton and the Brazilian delightfully curled home a fine second from 12 yards.
A clawing save from Friedel from Fotakis' 20-yard free-kick denied Blackburn further embarrassment at the start of a second half in which they were distinctly second best.
The loss of captain Nelsen just before the hour added to Rovers' woes, forcing them onto the backfoot as last-ditch defending on occasions became the order of the day.
Nelsen's replacement Zurab Khizanishvili, David Dunn and Ooijer were all forced to block shots inside their own area as Larissa looked to kill the tie.
That should have been accomplished in the 70th minute when the lively Bakayoko teed up Cleyton from eight yards for a sidefoot shot Friedel brilliantly blocked.
Despite four minutes of injury time, Rovers failed to conjure an away goal that could have aided their cause, and now it is all or nothing in two weeks' time in the return leg.
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