John Eustace’s wait for a win as Blackburn boss came to an end in emphatic fashion as relegation-threatened Rovers hammered Sunderland 5-1 at the Stadium of Light.
The Championship’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics set Blackburn on their way with a quickfire first half double – his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season – before strikes from Ryan Hedges and Tyrhys Dolan early in the second half wrapped up the points.
Chris Rigg came off the bench to score a consolation for Sunderland 13 minutes from time but Blackburn added a fifth four minutes later through substitute Andrew Moran.
After seven draws and two defeats from his first nine games in charge, Eustace’s first win lifts Rovers five points clear of the relegation zone.
Sunderland ended a seven-match winless run at Cardiff on Good Friday but failed to build on that victory and were booed off at half-time and full-time.
Eustace was dealt a blow early on when left-back Harry Pickering suffered an injury and had to be replaced by Ben Chrisene, but Rovers steadily got a grip, started to impose themselves and broke the deadlock just before the half-hour mark.
Patrick Roberts, making his first start after a two-month lay-off with a hamstring injury, slipped in his own half and Blackburn made the winger pay. Dolan played a neat one-two with Chrisene before sliding in Szmodics, whose crisp finished flashed low past Anthony Patterson and into the bottom corner.
Just seven minutes later, Szmodics scored his and Blackburn’s second, turning in Joe Rankin-Costello’s cut-back from six yards out after good play again from Dolan in the build-up.
It could have got even better for Blackburn, with Rankin-Costello forcing a good save out of Patterson. Sunderland desperately needed the half-time whistle and were booed off by the home supporters at the break.
And plenty of the home fans were heading for the exits early after Blackburn added two more goals to put the game out of sight within 10 minutes of the restart.
Hedges started and finished the move for the third, winning possession with a tackle inside his own half before receiving the ball back off Sam Gallagher and finishing calmly from inside the box.
The fourth came just seven minutes later when Dan Neil lost possession and Dolan’s clinical finish went in off the post.
Black Cats boss Mike Dodds immediately turned to his bench and made a triple change, with star forward Jack Clarke one of those introduced alongside Rigg and former Blackburn attacker Bradley Dack.
When Dack’s header was saved on 77 minutes, Rigg was on hand to tap home the equaliser, but Blackburn responded and Moran wrapped up the scoring after a miscued finish from Szmodics.
Carrick signs new three-year deal with Middlesbrough
Former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has signed a new contract to remain Middlesbrough head coach until 2027.
Carrick was set to enter the final 12 months of the three-year deal he signed when arriving at the Riverside Stadium in 2022, and he had been linked with Premier League clubs after impressing on Teesside.
He led the side to a fourth-place finish in the Championship in 2022-23, though they were beaten by Coventry City in the play-off semi-finals.
Carrick's team then missed out on the play-offs as they finished eighth in 2023-24, though they did reach the EFL Cup semi-finals, winning the first leg against Chelsea 1-0 before being thumped 6-1 in the return fixture.
Speaking to the club's media channels, Carrick said: "I think having that attachment, that trust and that belief within the club is really important.
"We've certainly got that. That's what still gives me the great feeling that I had when I first walked through the door.
"It feels like a big step as a headline, as a statement, but really it doesn't change anything I do or how I approach it – it just carries on what we're trying to achieve."
Lewandowski denies reports he could join Mourinho at Fenerbahce
Robert Lewandowski has denied reports he could join Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce, also insisting he is not considering retirement as he approaches his 36th birthday.
Lewandowski scored 26 goals in 49 games across all competitions in 2023-24, though that was down on his total of 33 goals as Barcelona won LaLiga in his first season with the club in 2022-23.
With the Blaugrana finishing a distant second to Real Madrid in LaLiga and exiting the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, reports had suggested an attacking refresh could be in the offing.
Lewandowski – who is halfway through a four-year deal with the Catalan giants – was linked with a move to Fenerbahce, who appointed Mourinho as their head coach on Sunday.
However, the Poland international has not heard anything about a transfer, telling Sport: "Fenerbahce have not contacted me. I don't know anything about it."
Lewandowski will turn 36 shortly after LaLiga's 2024-25 campaign commences in mid-August.
He was asked whether he might follow in the footsteps of Toni Kroos, who went out at the top of his game by helping Real Madrid win the Champions League in the final match of his club career on Saturday.
"My heart will tell me that moment. Before making a decision, I must first feel something," Lewandowski said.
"I don't know when it will happen, it's difficult to determine it by myself. I need to hear my decision to be sure of it and now I don't have it.
"Physically I feel very good and that means I can't think about retirement. Maybe Toni Kroos felt that moment, but it's not the case for me. I'm realising that the hard work I've done and I'm still doing is paying off."
Lewandowski will hope Hansi Flick's arrival at Camp Nou helps him step things up next season, having registered an incredible 83 goals and 18 assists in 71 games under him at Bayern Munich, between November 2019 and June 2021.
The striker also set the Bundesliga's single-season goal record under Flick, netting 41 times in 29 league matches as they won the title in 2020-21.
Southgate: No decision made on Grealish's place at Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate is yet to decide if Jack Grealish will make his final 26-man England squad for Euro 2024, pointing to the fierce competition for places out wide.
Grealish made 10 appearances in total at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, but nine of those came off the bench as he played the role of impact player.
All 35 of his England caps have come under Southgate, but a stop-start campaign with Manchester City has seen his place called into question ahead of the Euros.
Injuries and poor form limited Grealish to just 20 appearances across all competitions in 2023-24, after he provided five goals and seven assists as City won the treble in 2022-23.
Ahead of this week's warm-up friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland, Southgate said Grealish's attitude has never been in doubt.
"He has been really bright and he loves being here. He's had a good energy about his training," Southgate said.
"This season he has not played as much. I'm sure he would have liked that to be different but we know the qualities he can bring.
"He is a player we enjoy working with and a character we enjoy having within the group."
However, with Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, James Maddison and Eberechi Eze all capable of playing in the wide areas, some have questioned if Grealish will be retained when Southgate cuts his 33-man squad to 26.
Asked if Grealish was at risk, Southgate said: "I don't think we're defining that just yet. I think we know where we're likely to be.
"It's hard to be quite so specific because we keep sitting down and saying: 'Okay, if it's this or this'. Then somebody else in the room says: 'What about if we lose that player there, or that one doesn't come through with his injury? Do we need another one in this area?'
"Time is our friend this week. It's worth using the time.
"There are a lot of good players in that area of the pitch and they are all competing. We think we know who the best have been across the season.
"What we don't totally know is how many we need to take or how many we can allow ourselves to take because of the cover we might need in other positions."
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