ROVERS 2

MARKUS Babbel saved Blackburn from another devastating home defeat by landing a dramatic late blow in this Boxing Day thriller.

Rovers looked to be heading for a third straight defeat after Brazilian midfielder Juninho had scored twice for Boro.

But just as the visiting fans were preparing to celebrate a vital away win, up popped Babbel to grab what could well turn out to be a priceless equaliser for Rovers in their fight for survival.

It was the German's second goal of the game and his last gasp effort came as a double-whammy to Boro boss Steve McClaren and his players who had earlier seen the on-loan Liverpool defender dash their chances of making a piece of history.

Boro arrived at Ewood having kept seven successive clean sheets in the Premiership and they needed just one more to set a new club record.

However, Babbel then wrecked any hopes of that happening inside two minutes and 35 seconds when he headed home a Brett Emerton corner.

But if the timing of his first goal was dramatic then that paled into insignificance compared to his second.

The match had entered the 91st minute when Emerton swung over another corner which Babbel once again powered past Mark Schwarzer with his head.

That rescued a point for Rovers from a game which had previously looked lost but perhaps even more importantly, it gave the players a small but significant psychological boost after what has been an otherwise miserable Christmas.

At least they can travel to Newcastle tomorrow knowing they have stopped the rot but the reality is they are now in for a long, hard winter unless performances dramatically improve.

After Saturday's shenanigans against Aston Villa, Souness decided to make three changes to the side which lost so tamely to the Midlanders - so out went Andy Cole and Tugay and in came Nissa Johansson and Garry Flitcroft, with Martin Taylor also replacing 'flu victim Craig Short in the centre of defence.

There was also a place on the bench for Alan Mahon after the decision was taken to recall the midfielder from a loan spell at Ipswich.

With Boro boasting such a formidable defensive record, it was imperative that Rovers set the tempo from the very first whistle and that's exactly what they did.

Souness had clearly instructed his players to get the ball into the box as early as possible and the tactic paid instant dividends.

Boro were forced into conceding a couple of early corners and from the second of those in the third minute, Rovers grabbed the all-important first goal.

Emerton's out-swinging flag-kick from the right was delivered with pace and accuracy and Babbel ghosted in undetected to plant a firm header past a startled Schwarzer.

Boro were clearly shell-shocked and while they struggled to compose themselves, Rovers nearly scored again with a carbon-copy move.

Once again, Emerton's corner - this time from the left - was delivered with speed and unerring accuracy but Taylor's header cannoned back off the post.

Had that gone in then surely there would have been no coming back.

But Boro regrouped and very nearly fashioned an equaliser in the 21st minute.

Stewart Downing, a promising young wide-man, whipped over a teasing ball from the left which Michael Ricketts met with a powerful header but Brad Friedel thrust out a hand and prevented it from sailing into the top corner.

If that was a warning, then Rovers didn't heed it as 10 minutes later the visitors were back on level terms.

Ricketts suddenly found himself in acres of space on the left and he cleverly drew a defender before curling a perfectly weighted low cross into the path of Juninho, who was lurking in the centre, and the little Brazilian dinked a clever finish over Friedel.

That gave Boro a huge lift and they should have scored again just seconds before the break as huge holes began to appear in the home defence.

Downing found himself in space again on the left and he picked out Gaizka Mendieta with a clever pull-back but the Spaniard, who was completely unmarked, fired wide with the goal at his mercy.

Souness decided to shake things up and replaced both the ineffective Dwight Yorke and Nissa Johansson with Cole and Mahon at the start of the second half.

But before the two substitutes had time to work up a sweat, Rovers found themselves 2-1 down.

Juninho cut in from the right, leaving a couple of defenders trailing in his wake, before curling a low right-footer inside Friedel's far post from the edge of the area.

That was a hammer blow and from that moment on, Rovers were left facing a mountain to climb but, inspired by the industrious Mahon, they refused to throw in the towel.

A shot from the Republic of Ireland international flashed inches wide of the far post.

Then his arcing cross from the left just evaded Cole when any kind of touch would surely have resulted in a goal.

As the clocked ticked down, the situation became increasingly desperate.

Cole saw a header saved by Schwarzer then an instinctive flick from Paul Gallagher drifted harmlessly over.

Then in the 91st minute, they won a corner on the right and when Emerton whipped it over - and keeper Friedel among the players in the packed box - there was Babbel in the right place at the right time to power home a header.