Blackburn Rovers marked their 5,000th league match with victory and must continue to embrace their chaotic side to make up for their shortcomings in front of goal.

Jon Dahl Tomasson's side returned to winning ways in the Championship with a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at Ewood Park. It's a victory that lifts them up to eighth in the Championship table with ten points from six matches.

Having fallen on the wrong side of fine margins at Plymouth Argyle, despite the score line, Rovers knew they had to improve in front of goal. In truth, that didn't really happen despite the change in result.

Chance creation has not been an issue for Blackburn Rovers in 2023. Tomasson's men are free-flowing in open play, cutting teams open and applying their attacking patterns with regularity. They are, without doubt, a brilliantly coached team.

READ MORE: Tomasson highlights referee error in Blackburn Rovers win

Last season, they were missing the final touch and that ultimately cost them a top-six finish. Goal difference was the deciding factor after dropping points in the final run-in due to a lack of potency.

We might only be six games in but there hasn't been any evidence that the pattern has shifted yet. Against Boro, Rovers should've had the game wrapped up by half time.

It was an electric start in a vibrant atmosphere at Ewood Park. Rovers started aggressively and on the front foot. They pressed high, attacked with speed and created big chances.

Tyrhys Dolan should've nodded them in front after just four minutes. His wayward finish summed up not just the team's lack of clinical edge but his own struggles after a lacklustre start to the season.

 

Further chances came and went. Lewis Travis could've done more but did at least worked Seny Dieng after Sam Gallagher's cut-back. Again, the approach play was excellent, with the resurgent Brittain again involved.

Rovers did eventually get their noses ahead and it was another brilliant move. Hayden Carter's role should not go under the radar as he stepped into midfield, fired it into Gallagher who cleverly let the ball run across him for Szmodics to latch on to. Touch, finish, clinical. See, they can do it.

But that wasn't the end of the missed chances. Gallagher must not have realised he was playing Middlesbrough when he turned his header wide inside the 18-yard box. The striker usually channels his most ruthless displays against the Teessiders but that deserted him here.

In the second half, more chances were begging. Dolan was again the guilty man as he mistimed a header and then fired at Dieng when he should've laid it off to Gallagher. The groans from the Blackburn End told the story.

His blushes were temporarily spared though as Szmodics turned goal-scorer again. Having netted a brace at Rotherham United, he fancied another, firing in a shot that was too hot for Dieng to handle into the net. On second viewing, the Boro 'keeper will be disappointed not to have got it over the bar having got a huge hand on the strike.

So, if you're still counting, that's three huge chances missed and two converted. We're not talking half-chances either, it could genuinely be 5-0 at this stage, with 50 minutes played.

Middlesbrough had barely had a sniff and then in a flash, found themselves back in the match. Matt Crooks looked deceptively, oh no wait, miles offside but the linesman somehow missed it. Game back on.

And for the remaining 43 minutes, I can only describe the encounter as chaos. Though the scoring stopped, there was a total of 36 shots between the teams by the full-time whistle, 23 of which were on target.

Blackburn Rovers have subscribed to be agents of chaos and it's entirely necessary. Tomasson insisted post-match that he would rather win 5-3 than 1-0. Whilst I don't necessarily take that at face value, that gung-ho approach is going to have to be the way forward.

Quite simply, Rovers do not have the clinical players to adopt a fine-margin approach. They're not built to sit in, play the dark arts and hope to be clinical with a scruffy goal. They no longer have Ben Brereton Diaz or even Bradley Dack, who could sniff out a chance and take it.

They might need three or four big chances to score a goal. So the only way to do that is to commit bodies forward. To attack with numbers and, ultimately, leave yourself wide open, at times. It's exciting but very risky.

There is no debate that Rovers are an excellently coached team. They are succinct in their play and are a clear mirror image of what their head coach wants them to be. The improvement in this team from 12 months ago is genuinely night and day.

Between both boxes, Rovers are a top-six side. However, we all know it's inside the 18-yard areas that matches are decided. Without a 'proven' Championship scorer to their name, it's going to be high-risk, potentially high-reward football this season. Agents of chaos.

Against Boro, they should've been out of sight. In the end, they almost gave the entire stadium a heart attack as they defended for their lives with eight minutes of stoppage time held up.

They needed Aynsley Pears to tip wide Lewis O'Brien's strike wide of the post. His appearance was an irony not lost, with Rovers fans finally getting to see him in action at Ewood.

The Rovers goalkeeper had to be alert to smother Emmanuel Latte Lath's heavy touch in the dying seconds after the Boro striker had overrun his touch, clean through. Middlesbrough should've been dead and buried after an hour but created more than enough to win two games in the final half-hour.

Rovers could've added to the scoreline too. Szmodics should've had a hat-trick and Ryan Hedges was twice denied by Dieng. It was heart-in-your-mouth stuff and that might just be the way it has to be this season for Blackburn.

If Tomasson is to oversee another season of improvement at Rovers, this all-out-attack mentality is the right one to take. One thing is for certain, it promises to be an exciting journey.