A fine goal from Brett Emerton was all Blackburn had to show in the UEFA Cup first round first leg as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Genclerbirligi in Turkey. They were undone by a double blast from the Turkish side before half time.
Skoko opened the scoring in the 42nd minute by lobbing Brad Friedel from 30 yards after the goalkeeper had headed out a long ball launched by Ozkan. Then Souleymane Youla added a second goal soon after with a shot into the corner, after being released by Baris.
Blackburn boss Souness decided to switch things around at the start of the second half. He brought off the ineffective Jansen and replaced him with Cole. Certainly Blackburn needed to show a bit more firepower if they were to get back in this first round first leg match.
Youla got goalside of Amoruso in the 50th minute but Friedel was alert and raced out to clear. Blackburn however were looking a lot more positive at this stage of the game. Lucas Neill drove in a cross that caused confusion in he home defence. Then Cole managed to get in a header despite being outnumbered - but there was not enough power in his effort.
Blackburn got themselves back in the game after 56 minutes following a flowing move. Gresko picked out Cole, who cleverly released Brett Emerton. The Australian winger made no mistake from close range.
However Blackburn's joy last only three minutes with Youla outstripping Amoruso for his second goal of the game and there no way back for Rovers after that.
Filed by Johnny Proby
