Souness savours Dunn's silent but deadly stance in the battle for Europe

Blackburn Rovers 1 Manchester City

David Dunn may not be talking to his manager but his actions are speaking volumes. For the second time in eight days he scored the winning goal for Blackburn and Graeme Souness will be happy to get the cold shoulder from more players if this is the reaction. Silence is proving gilt-edged, if not golden.

Dunn was angered when Souness accused him of letting outside influences get in the way of his football, but whatever was distracting him – an Emmerdale actress in the main stand seemed particularly happy when he scored in the 13th minute – he seems to be concentrating now.

"Two goals in two games," Souness said, pausing for effect. "I'll be falling out with him again next week. I thought he had an excellent first 20 minutes in particular but towards the end you saw that he lacked match practice.

"It was a good opening for us, we got a goal and then we took our foot off the pedal a little bit. The second half belonged to them, but for all their possession I can't remember Brad Friedel having to save a shot on goal."

That was as good a summary as any. The teams began the day two places and two points apart and there was little between them other than Dunn's goal. But the result gives Blackburn a big advantage in the chase for the Uefa Cup places as a five-point advantage with nine games to play will take some overhauling.

Blackburn's day finished well but began ominously when Dwight Yorke pulled a hamstring in the warm-up. As Manchester United proved against Juventus in midweek, however, a well-timed injury can be fortuitous and it proved so again because Egil Ostenstad, his replacement, played a pivotal role in Blackburn's goal.

City's defence had survived one scare in the second minute when Garry Flitcroft was allowed the freedom of the near post at Keith Gillespie's corner and they were fortunate he did not make a proper connection with his header. If that suggested fragility, it was confirmed when the quick passing of Andy Cole and Tugay Kerimoglu split the City back four and Ostenstad was given a surprising amount of room to turn and shoot from 15 yards. Carlo Nash made a good save but the ball rebounded and Dunn followed up to head into an empty net.

City, thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal the previous Saturday, looked like they feared the worst but Blackburn's bright start dulled and City were allowed to shake off their sluggishness. They threatened something of their own when Robbie Fowler slipped through to head powerfully at Friedel and the former Liverpool and Leeds striker also blazed a shot narrowly over after 25 minutes.

Fowler came even closer after 43 minutes when Marc-Vivien Foé surprised the Blackburn defence by reaching a ball on the right. Friedel was out of position and Foé's cut-back was beyond him.Fowler appeared to have the goal at his mercy until Henning Berg slid in to block.

City replaced Eyal Berkovic with Ali Benarbia at half-time and he instantly became the fulcrum of their attacks, almost threading an immaculate pass through to the predatory Nicolas Anelka after 50 minutes. Only Friedel's charge halted that move but it proved to be the visitors' high-tide mark and, as Benarbia's influence waned, Tugay resumed control and it was Blackburn who were pressing towards the end, Nash saving well from Cole in the final seconds.

"We paid the price for a sloppy start," Kevin Keegan, the City manager, said. "We needed to concede a goal before we showed a sign of life." Europe? "Gone," he replied.

Blackburn Rovers 1 Manchester City 0
Dunn 13

Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 28,647