Blackburn Rovers 0 Newcastle Utd 2:NEWCASTLE CLIMBED to fifth place in the Premier League after a victory over Blackburn that left Steve Kean's strugglers ruing a host of missed chances.

Rovers had shown encouraging form of late, but Newcastle took the lead in the 12th minute, albeit with a huge slice of luck. A mix-up in defence gave Ryan Taylor the ball, but his 25-yard shot was speculative at best before it took a wicked deflection off Scott Dann, leaving Paul Robinson helpless.

Rovers reacted well and were almost level immediately, but Gael Givet’s volley from Morten Gamst Pedersen’s corner was cleared off the line by Danny Simpson and the defender poked the rebound wide.

Newcastle’s luck continued to hold in the 38th minute as Best headed a Pedersen corner against his own crossbar while a mix-up between Krul and Mike Williamson presented Anthony Modeste – making his debut after arriving on loan from Bordeaux – with an open goal from 35 yards, but he fired way over.

Rovers at last saw something go their way two minutes before the break when they were awarded a penalty after Simpson barged into Modeste, but Dunn’s spot-kick was easily saved by Krul, who also stopped Givet’s tame follow-up.

Blackburn failed to find the same fluency after half-time and were relying mostly on long balls and failed to make clear-cut chances, although Modeste should have scored when screwing wide with only Krul to beat.

But their hopes were over in injury-time when substitute Gabriel Obertan ended a quick break with the sort of clinical finish Rovers had been so lacking.

BLACKBURN: Robinson, Lowe, Dann, Givet, Olsson, Hoilett, Dunn (Rochina 78), Nzonzi, Pedersen, Petrovic (Formica 66), Modeste. Subs not used: Bunn, Slew, Vukcevic, Hanley, Henley. Booked: Lowe.

NEWCASTLE: Krul, Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson, Santon, Ben Arfa (Perch 46), Guthrie, Ryan Taylor (Obertan 89), Gutierrez, Best (Lovenkrands 77), Shola Ameobi. Subs not used: Elliot, Abeid, Gosling, Ferguson. Booked: Ryan Taylor, Williamson. Goals: Dann 12 og, Obertan 90.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).