Bentley steers Rovers to win but race row overshadows victory

BLACKBURN are to contact UEFA after alleging that striker Benni McCarthy was racially abused during the win over Wisla Krakow.

The 28-year-old South African was so incensed by what he considered intolerable abuse that he squared up to Serbian defender Nikola Mijailovic after a 2-1 victory in Poland.

The row overshadowed a stirring performance by Blackburn on foreign soil in their opening UEFA Cup Group game.

Robbie Savage grabbed the equaliser with a header from David Bentley’s cross, before Bentley went on to seal the points in this UEFA Cup group game a minute from time.

It was just the boost Blackburn needed after going behind to a 28th-minute goal from Mauro Cantoro, whose shot took a huge deflection off Tugay.

On the McCarthy issue manager Mark Hughes said: “Benni was upset because a number of comments were made to him during the game.

“They were of a racist nature. We will speak to UEFA and make it clear to them who we think was involved.

“I will speak to the UEFA delegate at some stage to make our point.

“It’s unfortunate something like this will tend to overshadow a great performance.”

Goal-scorer Bentley said: “We are really happy. Coming to a place like this is tough.

“We showed our grit and determination after not getting off to the best start.

With games to follow against Basle, Feyenoord and Nancy, Blackburn are in a strong position early on.

Hughes is refusing to get carried away however.

He said: “We are delighted to have won this match.

“Everyone understands that if you get something from away games you have a good chance.

“They gave us a difficult time but we felt we had the quality to create the chances.

“Our passing was slow in the first half but we created more opportunities later on.

“It’s too early to say that we’re already through but it’s a good start, nothing more.”

WISLA KRAKOW: Dolha, Baszczynski, Dudka, Cleber, Mijailovic, Blaszczykowski, Sobolewski, Cantoro, Zienczuk (Piotr Brozek 66), Jean Paulista, Radovanovic (Kryszalowicz 83).

BLACKBURN: Friedel, Neill, Khizanishvili, Ooijer, Emerton, Pedersen (Roberts 74), Savage (Mokoena 87), Kerimoglu, Bentley, Nonda, McCarthy.

Ref: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden).