Blackburn edged closer to Championship survival as Southampton’s faint automatic promotion hopes took another blow as these sides returned from Easter Monday blockbusters with a goalless draw.
John Eustace celebrated his first official win as Rovers boss in style with a 5-1 triumph at Sunderland at the start of a week that saw Saints stunned in a 3-2 stoppage-time defeat at fellow high-flyers Ipswich.
But there was no such drama as the teams met at a blustery Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon, with Rovers further easing their relegation fears in a 0-0 draw against fourth-placed Saints.
Russell Martin’s men dominated first-half possession but failed to create clear-cut chances, with Joe Aribo’s header off the crossbar the closest they came.
Rovers star Sammie Szmodics nearly saw an audacious effort from distance come off and the hosts continued to pose problems after half-time as Eustace searched for his first home win.
Both teams had chances to win it but a flat-looking Saints came closest, with Kyle Walker-Peters seeing a late shot cleared by Callum Brittain.
The first league meeting between these sides at Ewood Park in 19 years began with Sam Gallagher having an early chance against his former club.
That was swiftly followed by Adam Armstrong – one of three former Rovers players in the Saints line-up – striking wide a good chance from a driven David Brooks cross.
But things tailed off after that lively start, with a drab encounter briefly coming to life in the 25th minute when Aribo saw a header from Jack Stephens’ cross hit the crossbar.
The ball hit goalkeeper Aynsley Pears as it came off the woodwork and, after Rovers’ Ryan Hedges went off with a hamstring injury, the hosts went close through the Championship’s top scorer.
Jan Bednarek was breathing a sigh of relief after Szmodics picked up his loose pass and tried an audacious clipped effort from 30 yards that landed on the roof of the net.
Saints captain Stephens headed over as play limped towards half-time in Lancashire, where play resumed with Ryan Fraser striking wide in front of the 2,499 away fans.
Tyrhys Dolan saw a low shot saved by Gavin Bazunu at the end of some slick Blackburn build-up, with Saints’ backline having to make some important interventions after that.
The Ewood Park faithful were beginning to increase the volume so Martin turned to his bench, with freshly-introduced Che Adams curling just wide soon after coming on.
Blackburn kept knocking at the door and Taylor Harwood-Bellis threw himself in front of a Szmodics strike.
At the other end Walker-Peters wriggled free in the box only for a block by Brittain – sent off in the reverse fixture – to deny Saints in the 80th minute.
Joe Rankin-Costello was then stopped by Bazunu as the match ended scoreless.
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
Coventry City 1-2 Ipswich Town: Burgess puts Tractor Boys on brink of promotion
Ipswich Town took a huge step to Premier League promotion after Cameron Burgess snatched a second-half winner in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Coventry City.
Kieran McKenna's side require just one point from their final Championship game against League One-bound Huddersfield Town to go up, after a decisive victory at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Kieffer Moore blasted in an eighth-minute opener for the visitors after Wes Burns' crafty cutback pass, easing the pressure on Ipswich and dampening the top-two hopes of third-placed Leeds United.
Haji Wright levelled in the second half, only for Burgess to squeeze a winning goal past Bradley Collins five minutes later, putting Ipswich on the brink of top-flight football for the first time since their relegation in 2002.
A draw against Huddersfield, who are 23rd and three points adrift of safety, would secure promotion at Portman Road, marking just the fourth instance of back-to-back promotions in the Premier League era.
Having managed to climb out of League One, McKenna's entertaining side would join Watford, rivals Norwich City and Southampton as the only sides to achieve the feat.
Data Debrief: Ipswich end winless run at perfect time
Prior to this game, only five teams had won fewer points in the Championship than Ipswich's six since the beginning of April (W1 D3 L1).
Yet McKenna's men refused to let their top-flight push derail as the Tractor Boys ended a four-game winless run to move within touching distance of history.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
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