Blackburn v Liverpool

Blackburn 2

Yakubu 36′, 61′ (pen)

Liverpool 3

Maxi 13′, 16′ Carroll 90′

FT 90 +6
HT 1-2

By Jonathan Jurejko BBC Sport

Ten-man Liverpool stopped Blackburn climbing out of the Premier League relegation zone thanks to Andy Carroll's injury-time header.

Maxi Rodriguez twice scored from close range before keeper Alexander Doni was sent off and a penalty awarded.

Andy Carroll's 2011-12 goals

24 August: Exeter (a)
1 October: Everton (a)
29 October: West Brom (a)
6 January: Oldham (h)
31 January: Wolves (a)
19 February: Brighton (h)
10 April: Blackburn (a)

Substitute keeper Brad Jones, who now looks set to face Everton in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final, saved from Yakubu.

The Rovers striker struck with a header and a second-half equaliser from the spot before Carroll's late header.

The £35m striker's intervention, from Daniel Agger's knockdown, capped an incident-packed 90 minutes and earned Liverpool only their second win in nine top-flight games.

While Reds manager Kenny Dalglish could not hide his delight as he skipped down the touchline, Rovers boss Steve Kean cut a forlorn figure as Blackburn remain in the bottom three courtesy of QPR's better goal difference.

In the build-up to this game, Dalglish had promised Liverpool would not be distracted by thoughts of Saturday's Merseyside derby in the FA Cup semi-final.

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Kean wants more aggression

But the Wembley date was suddenly uppermost in Reds minds once Doni carelessly upended Junior Hoilett after a tame backpass by teenage right-back Jon Flanagan fell woefully short, resulting in a straight red for the Brazilian.

Australian keeper Jones immediately came on, replacing the unfortunate Flanagan, and with first-choice Pepe Reina already suspended after his dismissal against Newcastle last month, it will be the 31-year-old who will walk out to face Everton at Wembley on Saturday.

Jones, making his Premier League debut for the Reds, instantly became a hero at Ewood Park as he stopped Yakubu's weak penalty to protect a two-goal advantage established by Maxi's two early strikes.

But Jones's good work was undone after the break when he conceded a second spot-kick in calamitous fashion, first seeing his attempted clearance charged down by the advancing Yakubu then, having palmed away the rebound, pushing the Nigerian to the ground before he could pursue the loose ball.

Blackburn's relegation run-in

14 April: Swansea (a)
21 April: Norwich (h)
29 April: Tottenham (a)
7 May: Wigan (h)
13 May: Chelsea (a)

On this occasion, referee Anthony Taylor was content to produce just a yellow card, otherwise Liverpool's prospects - on the night and at the weekend - would have been even more perilous.

However, Yakubu, whose unmarked header had halved the arrears before the interval, made no mistake with his second penalty to bring the scores level.

It looked like rescuing what had seemed an unlikely point for the hosts after they were inexplicably caught napping twice within the opening 16 minutes, Argentine midfielder Maxi making the most of his first top-flight start in almost three months.

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Dalglish credits players for win

Martin Skrtel's 60-yard pass out of his own penalty area picked out an unmarked Bellamy, who surged clear of a floundering Blackburn backline and cut the ball across to Maxi for the simplest of tap-ins.

And Liverpool - without top scorer Luis Suarez and talisman Steven Gerrard - made Blackburn pay for another defensive lapse when Rodriguez tucked home Carroll's pass.

Yakubu's brace in reply seemed to have earned Rovers the point that would have lifted them out of the bottom three.

But Carroll's winner means it is now four straight defeats for the Lancashire side, with the only consolation for their manager that it was owners Venky's, and not Kean himself, at whom the home crowd chose to vent their spleen on the final whistle.

Lineup, Bookings (10) & Substitutions (5)

Blackburn Rovers

01 Robinson
03 Mn Olsson
16 Dann
18 Orr Booked
31 Hanley Booked
08 Dunn (Lowe - 75' )
10 Formica Booked (Rochina - 73' )
15 Nzonzi
21 Ms Olsson
23 Hoilett Booked
24 Yakubu

Substitutes

34 Kean
05 Givet
12 Pedersen
14 Petrovic
35 Lowe
20 Rochina
25 Goodwillie

Liverpool

32 Doni Dismissed
02 Johnson (Agger - 53' )
16 Coates
37 Skrtel
38 Flanagan Booked (Jones - 26' Booked )
11 Maxi Booked (Jose Enrique - 77' )
14 Henderson Booked
20 Spearing
33 Shelvey
09 Carroll
39 Bellamy Booked

Substitutes

01 Jones
03 Jose Enrique
05 Agger
06 Aurelio
23 Carragher
07 Suarez
18 Kuyt

Ref: Taylor

Att: 23,571

Match Stats

Possession 52 48

Shots

10 16

On target

4 12

Corners

4 4

Fouls

16 12

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +5:27 Full time

Full Time The referee ends the match.

90:00 +4:28

Craig Bellamy is flagged offside by the assistant referee. Indirect free kick taken by Paul Robinson.

90:00 +1:57

Free kick awarded for a foul by Grant Hanley on Andy Carroll. Direct free kick taken by Brad Jones.

90:00 +0:41

Assist on the goal came from Daniel Agger.

90:00 +0:41 Goal scored

Goal - Andy Carroll - Blackburn 2 - 3 Liverpool Andy Carroll finds the net with a headed goal from inside the penalty box. Blackburn 2-3 Liverpool.

89:05

Daniel Agger fires a strike on goal direct from the free kick. Corner taken by Craig Bellamy, Bradley Orr makes a clearance.

89:05 Booking

Booking Grant Hanley is shown a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.

89:04

Free kick awarded for a foul by Grant Hanley on Andy Carroll.

87:39

Inswinging corner taken left-footed by Ruben Rochina from the right by-line, Andy Carroll manages to make a clearance.

86:57

A cross is delivered by Marcus Olsson, clearance by Martin Skrtel.

85:35

Ruben Rochina crosses the ball in from the free kick.

85:35 Booking

Booking Jordan Henderson shown a yellow card.