Blackburn Rovers got away to a winning start with a fortuitous 1-0 victory over Everton at Ewood Park.
Blackburn Rovers: 1 (Nikola Kalinic 14') Everton: 0
Venue: Ewood Park Crowd: 25,869 Referee: Phil Dowd Yellow cards:BR - Morten Gamst Pedersen 42', Michel Salgado 71' EV - Tim Cahill 64'
Despite dominating possession and shots on goal, the Toffees left Lancashire empty handed as Nikola Kalinic netted the only goal of the contest.
The Croatian pounced on a Tim Howard goalkeeping error in the 14th minute to slot home against the run of play and give the Rovers a handy three points to kick their season off in a positive fashion.
Starting Line-Ups
BR Paul Robinson (gk), Ryan Nelsen, Christopher Samba, Gael Givet, Michel Salgado, Morten Gamst Pedersen, David Dunn (N'Zonzi 9'), Phil Jones, Martin Olsson, El-Hadji Diouf, Nikola Kalinic (Diouf 60')
Subs - Mark Bunn (gk), Keith Andrews, Brett Emerton, Pascal Chimbonda, Steven N'Zonzi (9'), David Hoilett, Mame Biram Diouf (60')
EV Tim Howard (gk), Sylvain Distin, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Phil Neville, Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, Marouane Fellaini (Rodwell 78'), Steven Pienaar, Leon Osman (Beckford 59'), Louis Saha (Bilyaletdinov 73')
Subs - Jan Mucha (gk), Tony Hibbert, John Heitinga, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (73'), Jack Rodwell (78'), Magaye Gueye, Jermaine Beckford (59')
