Steven Schumacher delighted as Plymouth climb to 10th with Blackburn victory

Posted Sunday, September 03, 2023 by PA

Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher was delighted with his side’s 3-0 Sky Bet Championship home win over Blackburn.

Scottish striker Ryan Hardie took his tally to four goals in five league games with an opportunist 77th-minute close-range goal then won the aerial duel to tee up Luke Cundle’s sublime chip over goalkeeper Aynsley Pears as promoted Argyle climbed to 10th. Finn Azaz’s deflected 27th-minute strike had opened the scoring.

Schumacher said: “It’s a huge three points for us. It gives us seven points from our first five games in the Championship, we can all be quite pleased with that.

“We go into the international break having got maximum points today, which is important.

“We have won the game probably without playing our best. We played better in our last two league games and on Tuesday night in the cup and haven’t got anything from those games.

“It’s a funny old game football. Blackburn were a really tough opponent and for us to get three points from it? It’s a huge win.

“I really like them. They are a good, well-organised, fit, young squad and have caused everyone they have played so far this season problems and they caused us problems today.

“In the first half they had more energy than us and played with a better tempo. We were half a yard off them and they were the better team and we scored against the run of play.

“At half-time we spoke about being a little more aggressive, we changed our press slightly and with the chances we created in the second half we were clinical, which – as everyone has seen so far – hugely important in the Championship.”

Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson said: “We all know how important the first goal is.

“We had the chances to score the first goal, they scored the first goal from a deflection.

“I don’t think it is a fair scoreline if you look at the game, not at all. If you look up until the 75th minute, I was thinking, ‘how is it possible we are not leading this game?’.

“We played some great football but at the end of the day, it is about putting the ball in the goal. We had the opportunities.

“The first goal they scored was a deflection and we all know how difficult it is to come here. I think they won 20 out of 23 home games last season. So it’s a good record.

“To create that many opportunities in the final third was good, but of course we are extremely disappointed with the result.

“I am disappointed we couldn’t give the fans one or three points.

“The first goal was extremely unlucky, it was a deflection and our deflected shot hit the bar. But if you make mistakes when you are a striker it is different than if you make mistakes at the back.”