Lincoln City and Blackburn Rovers played out a goalless draw at Sincil Bank on Monday evening in the Championship's fourth round. The match ended 0:0 after ninety minutes plus stoppage time, with both sides leaving the pitch having created little of note in front of goal.
Things came to a head in the sixty-ninth minute when Lincoln's T. Atcheson was shown a second yellow card and sent off. He had already picked up a caution in the thirteenth minute, and his dismissal shifted the shape of the game. Blackburn could not capitalise, despite having more possession and more shots overall.
Both managers made heavy changes in the second half. Blackburn brought on F. Draper and T. Bayliss together in the sixty-first minute, while K. Montgomery and O. Afolayan followed shortly after. Lincoln responded with substitutions for R. Street and T. Cantwell before the seventy-ninth minute, then added R. Hackett-Fairchild and D. Jefferies in the eighty-seventh. R. Alebiosu came on for Lincoln in stoppage time as the match wound down.
The statistics tell a story of dominance without reward. Blackburn held 60 per cent possession and completed 447 passes compared to Lincoln's 256, yet they created no big chances. Their expected goals figure stood at just 0.26, while Lincoln's 1.44 suggests they had the better opportunities despite being on the back foot. Lincoln registered nine shots off target and only one on target, with a shooting accuracy of six per cent — not the kind of numbers that bring dividends.
By then, the table positions reflected a narrow gap between the sides. Lincoln sit seventeenth with three points from three games, a win and two defeats. Blackburn occupy tenth place with four points, one win, one draw and one loss. The result keeps them within touching distance of each other, and neither side will feel they have gained ground on the other.
