Blackburn 2 Everton 1
Graeme Souness saw his Blackburn side chalk up their first points in six games with a hard fought 2-1 win against Everton at Ewood Park tonight.
Despite taking an early two-goal lead Souness's nerves must have been frayed at the end as they threatened to concede their advantage.
Everton, without flu victim Wayne Rooney, staged a spirited comeback in the second half. But this defeat means they are now looking anxiously over their shoulders near the foot of the table.
Rooney is now doubtful for the England match on Sunday - and without him Everton lacked a cutting edge. With former old boy Peter Reid looking on after his exit at Leeds they never got going early on.
Blackburn began brightly and Andy Todd glanced a header narrowly wide after three minutes following a corner from Brett Emerton. They went ahead three minutes later when Peter Clarke attempted to clear Garry Flitcroft's header.
He only succeeded in finding Markus Babbel and he found the target from close range. Babbel almost added a second in the 12th minute when he got on the end of Emerton's cross. But goalkeeper Nigel Martyn reacted superbly to push his effort over the top.
Blackburn extended their lead a minute later thanks to another good delivery from Emerton on the left. Dwight Yorke peeled away from his marker to score a second with a header and leave Everton on the ropes.
Blackburn were growing in confidence and Barry Ferguson tested Martyn with a shot from distance after 27 minutes. Then Yorke got goalside of Joseph Yobo but the Everton defender recovered to divert the ball to safety.
Todd should have extended Blackburn's lead in the 38th minute but headed wide from Emerton's cross.
Everton manager David Moyes rang the changes at the start of the second half in a bid to turn things around. James McFadden and David Unsworth were drafted in for Kevin Kilbane and Alex Nyarko.
There was also a change to the Blackburn team with Paul Gallagher replacing Yorke, who was reported to have a thigh strain.
Everton got back into the game in the 49th minute when goalkeeper Brad Friedel got a hand to McFadden's cross but only succeeded in pushing it into the path of Tomasz Radzinski, who scored the club's first goal in five games.
Then it was Everton's turn to gain the momentum as Blackburn suddenly started to look nervy and edgy in front of their own supporters.
Emerton, so influential in the first half, was denied space at the start of the second period but he got away in the 62nd minute only to see his shot go wide of Martyn's post.
Then Gallagher almost restored Blackburn's two-goal advantage as he fired in a shot from the edge of the area. But Martyn showed the kind of reflexes that made him a consistent member of England squads to parry his effort.
Blackburn were being pulled all over the place and Tobias Linderoth should have equalised but headed wide from a good position in the 74th minute.
Vratislav Gresko's frustration spilled over with a stiff challenge on McFadden that earned him a yellow card.
Unsworth scorned a great chance of equalising when he spooned a shot at the far post into the crowd in the 87th minute and Blackburn hung on to get the victory they craved after a dreadful recent run.