Blackburn struggle in Turkey- G.Birligi: 3- Blackburn:1

Two goals in a minute just before half-time from Josip Skoko and Souleymane Youla gave Genclerbirligi a deserved lead at the interval before Brett Emerton pulled one back for Blackburn on 57 minutes.

But the Premiership side quickly threw away their foothold in the match as Youla exposed Blackburn’s lack of pace at the back to score his second of the night three minutes later.

The defeat leaves Blackburn, who have never won a UEFA Cup match, with a difficult task when Genclerbirligi visit Ewood Park for the return leg in a fortnight’s time.

Genclerbirligi’s dominance began as early as the ninth minute when Mustafa Ozkan’s tame header was caught by Brad Friedel after a low cross had deflected off Lucas Neill’s foot.

Blackburn countered through Matt Jansen who flashed a left-footed shot just wide from the edge of the area after good work by Tugay and Emerton.

But Blackburn’s defence was so uncertain that Genclerbirligi began to pick their chances at will. Mustafa hit the side-netting after Lorenzo Amoruso failed to clear before Genclerbirligi won a series of corners to pin Blackburn deep in their own territory.

Blackburn released the pressure briefly when Dino Baggio fired a sharp shot straight at goalkeeper Tokgoz after Emerton’s free-kick had been charged down.

But Genclerbirligi still pressed forward, Deniz Baris flashing a header just wide on 30 minutes before Serkan Balci hit the crossbar from five yards after eluding Blackburn’s defence at the back post.

The Turkish side then took the lead on 42 minutes when Skoko hit a sweet half-volley to score from 30 yards after Friedel had headed Ozkan’s long-ball clear.

Youla then doubled the lead moments later when he beat the offside trap to drill a low shot into the bottom corner as Genclerbirligi, who lost Tokgoz to a suspected broken collarbone, made the most of their possession.

Blackburn, meanwhile, were in need of serious help and their manager Graeme Souness responded by replacing Jansen with Andy Cole and the former England striker immediately provided a greater threat in attack.

Neill made a rare run forward before his dangerous cross was turned behind for a corner. And Cole managed to get a header on target despite being outnumbered by defenders moments later.

Cole then provided the spark that got Blackburn back into the match when he spun two defenders near the byline and cut the ball back to Emerton who finished smartly from eight yards.

But Blackburn’s joy quickly turned to misery when a quick counter-attack by Genclerbirligi ended with Youla sprinting past the hapless Amoruso and drilling a low shot beyond Friedel.

Souness made more changes, hauling off Baggio and Dwight Yorke in favour of Steven Reid and Ciccio Grabbi as Blackburn became increasingly desperate.

Grabbi should have put his side back in the game but fired over from close range after losing his marker before David Thompson had Blackburn’s last chance in injury time when he curled a 20-yard free-kick just over.

Genclerbirligi: Tokgoz, Daems, El Saka, Ozkan, Youla, Bozkurt, Skoko, Tandogan, Mercimek, Baris, Balci
Subs: Botonjic, Ozbey, Akin, Basturk, M’Bayo, Cihan, Karaman

Blackburn: Friedel, Neill, Amoruso, Babbel, Gresko, Emerton, Tugay, Baggio, Thompson, Jansen, Yorke
Subs: Kelly, Martin Taylor, Cole, Reid, Johansson, Gallagher, Grabbi