Emerton (centre) celebrates Rovers' second at Ewood Park
By Phil McNulty
Chief football writer at Ewood Park
Blackburn Rovers increased the agony for Wolverhampton Wanderers and boss Mick McCarthy with a convincing victory at Ewood Park.
McCarthy's side faded after a bright start as they sunk to the bottom of the Premier League with a graphic demonstration of the defensive weakness that has dogged their season.
Wolves looked to be building on the confidence gained from a win against Sunderland that ended a run of four straight defeats as they started in style with both Stephen Ward and Ronald Zubar striking the woodwork.
But Blackburn soon showed why the visitors have not kept a clean sheet since April and ran out comfortable winners.
David Dunn headed Rovers in front after Wolves failed to deal with Morten Gamst Pedersen's corner, and Brett Emerton added a second after Jason Roberts proved too strong for Steve Mouyokolo.
Wolves were exposed again on 55 minutes when Nelsen turned Pedersen's free-kick past Wayne Hennessey.
McCarthy's did threaten towards the end as Blackburn closed out the win, with keeper Paul Robinson saving splendidly from George Elokobi and twice from substitute Stephen Hunt - but this will have provided no consolation for the dejected McCarthy as the game was well out of reach at that stage.
In contrast, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce will be highly satisfied at how his team responded with a show of character following their
7-1 defeat at Manchester United,
their worst top-flight loss in 63 years.
There was little hint of the frailty to come as Wolves opened in buoyant mood by taking the attack to Rovers instantly - and were desperately unlucky not to see their early adventure pay dividends.
Glum McCarthy predicts 'bad Christmas'
Wolves were cursing the woodwork twice in the space of seconds in the fifth minute, first when Ward's low shot struck a post and then when Zubar's curling effort bounced to safety off both the bar and the upright.
Blackburn took advantage of the reprieve to take the lead on 29 minutes as Dunn's header just crawled over the line after Nelsen headed Pedersen's corner back into the six-yard box.
And just before the interval, Emerton delivered a hammer blow to Wolves' hopes of a revival in a moment that summed up the defensive weaknesses McCarthy must address. Roberts wrestled Mouyokolo off the ball far too easily and cleverly found Emerton, who struck an emphatic finish high past Hennessey.
McCarthy made a positive double change after the break, sending on Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Hunt for Mouyokolo and Michael Mancienne but Wolves were further behind before they had any opportunity to make an impact.
Rest pays off for Allardyce and Blackburn
The visitors were again incapable of dealing with a routine set piece. Pedersen's free-kick was hardly the sort to cause horrors, but they failed to react and allowed Nelsen to arrive unattended to steer a simple finish out of Hennessey's reach.
Blackburn were in the mood to make the scoreline even more convincing, and Hennessey was forced to block with his legs after Phil Jones rampaged into the penalty area past a succession of defenders.
Wolves did gave Blackburn an anxious moment with 19 minutes left when Elokobi tested Robinson with an angled drive from 20 yards, but the former England keeper was up to the challenge.
Robinson was in action again with an even better save on 79 minutes, diving low to his right to claw away Hunt's shot when it looked destined for the corner.
Hunt tested Robinson once more in stoppage time before Hennessey made one last save from Pedersen.
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