BLACKBURN Rovers stole a march on their rivals for an Intertoto place thanks to this hard-fought victory against Wigan Athletic.
Two goals from Roque Santa Cruz, either side of a Jason Roberts strike, earned 10-man Rovers three richly deserved points on an afternoon of drama at Ewood Park.
This was sweet revenge for the 5-3 defeat Rovers suffered when these two sides met at the JJB Stadium in December.
On that day, Santa Cruz bagged a hat-trick but still finished on the losing side.
This time, however, the Paraguayan did pick up a win bonus after scoring two headed goals to lay the foundations for this welcome victory.
The former Bayern Munich ace bagged his first of the afternoon in the 11th minute, when he pounced to score from close range after Chris Kirkland fumbled a long-range drive from the excellent David Bentley.
However, that lead lasted barely five minutes before Wigan were back on level terms, and Rovers were reduced to 10-men.
Chris Samba saw red for denying Emile Heskey a clear goalscoring opportunity, and Marlon King confidently dispatched the resulting penalty.
Unperturbed by that set-back, Rovers continued to look the better side and they regained the lead right on the stroke of half-time, when Roberts turned past a defender and stroked a cool finish under Kirkland.
Rovers then gave themselves further breathing space in the 63rd minute, Bentley sending over a sublime cross for Santa Cruz to power home a header at the far post.
To compund Wigan's frustrations, they were also reduced to 10-men in the closing stages, Wilson Palacios seeing red for a second bookable offence in the 69th minute.
With Aston Villa also losing at home to Sunderland, and Manchester City only drawing at Bolton, it turned out to be an excellent afternoon all round for Mark Hughes' men.
Rovers: Friedel, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Samba, Warnock, Bentley, Reid, Dunn, Pedersen, Roberts, Santa Cruz. Subs: Tugay (for Roberts, 79),Mokoena (for Dunn, 84), McCarthy (for Santa Cruz, 90) Not used: Derbyshire, Brown Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Edman, Valencia, Palacios, Brown, Kilbane, King, Heskey. Subs: Taylor (for Edman, 41), Bent (for King, 64) Not used: Aghahowa, Bramble, Pollitt Referee: Mr M Dean (Cheshire)
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