Blackburn Rovers 2 Wigan Athletic 1: McCarthy snatches late victory in tale of two goalkeepers

The European hangover and the perils of conceding on the stroke of half-time presented an admirable challenge for the most influential football cliché at Ewood Park yesterday only to succumb to that perennial favourite, the fickle nature of goalkeeping. Fortune favoured Blackburn.

Six minutes were all that were required to expose the full gamut of a goalkeeper's life as Jason Brown, making his Rovers debut as a half-time replacement for the injured Brad Friedel, denied the Wigan substitute Svetoslav Todorov from the penalty spot and saved two subsequent rebounds. The former Gillingham keeper then saw his counterpart, the England international Chris Kirkland, ruin an otherwise exemplary performance when he raced from goal in the 81st minute, missed a clearance and gifted a controversial winner to Benni McCarthy.

"It wasn't a tactical move to replace Brad, trust me," Hughes said. "I always knew Jason had potential. He took a big decision to come here in the summer, he could have gone to a lower league club as a No 1, and that was a great debut."

Brown's block, from a weak 75th- minute penalty after Emile Heskey had burst clear of Andre Ooijer only to be felled by the Dutch defender, was the fourth time in five occasions this season that a Blackburn goalkeeper has saved from the spot. It also gave Rovers the platform to complete a hard-fought, though deserving, transformation against a Wigan team who were punished when their former striker Jason Roberts beat Kirkland to a long punt from Lucas Neill and the South African McCarthy arrived from an offside position to tap home his fifth goal in nine games. "He was more than a little offside but there is no point screaming about it now," said Wigan's Paul Jewell .

If it was a close call as to which manager was the more enraged at the interval - Hughes, following a lethargic 45-minute display that contrasted starkly with Thursday's defeat of Red Bull Salzburg, or Jewell for the stoppage-time lapse that completely undermined Wigan's previous authority - then there was no debate at the end.

The Blackburn manager had been able to make only one change from the side that reached the Uefa Cup group stage - Francis Jeffers replacing the injured Shabani Nonda and delivering a performance of industry and intent - and had his concerns about fatigue realised when sluggishness was punished in only the second minute.

With Heskey on the receiving end of a strong aerial challenge from Ooijer in the opening seconds this could so easily have been a day when the former England striker hobbled from view. Instead, he responded impressively, stealing in ahead of Zurab Khizanishvili to sweep a low right wing cross from Emmerson Boyce beyond Friedel with his first touch and causing the Rovers' rearguard a constant problem. This was a performance to vindicate his manager's faith in the £5.5m forward, but although Wigan enjoyed the early supremacy and almost added a second through Henri Camara and Luis Antonio Valencia, they failed to seize the initiative.

With the final touch of the first half Jeffers and David Bentley produced a devastating combination through the visiting defence for the latter to curl an exquisite shot around Kirkland. The on-loan keeper from Liverpool later prevented Roberts and McCarthy from establishing a convincing lead for Blackburn but with just one error, he was reminded how lonely his workplace can be. Brown, meanwhile, was submerged beneath a mass of blue and white.

Goals: Heskey 0-1 (2); Bentley 1-1 (45); McCarthy 2-1 (81).

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Friedel (Brown, h-t); Emerton, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Neill; Bentley, Savage, Tugay (Mokoena, 71), Pedersen; Jeffers (Roberts, 71), McCarthy. Substitutes not used: Gallagher, McEveley.

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): Kirkland; Boyce, Jackson, De Zeeuw, Baines; Valencia (Teale, 67), Scharner, Landzaat, Kilbane (McCulloch, 74); Camara (Todorov, 64), Heskey. Substitutes not used: Pollitt (gk), Johansson.

Referee: H Webb (South Yorkshire).

Booked: Blackburn Jeffers, Neill, Ooijer, Mokoena; Wigan Scharner, Kilbane, Landzaat.

Man of the match: McCarthy.

Attendance: 17,859.