Blackburn fail to drive home advantage in Cruz control

Blackburn's Paraguay striker followed up his goal on Saturday in the Barclays Premier League victory against Middlesbrough with another vital strike in Finland.

Scroll down to read more:

Nice finish: Roque Santa Cruz celebrates against MyPa

The £3.3million buy from Bayern Munich got the winner in this UEFA Cup second qualifying round first leg match after five minutes.

Santa Cruz's effort should have acted as a catalyst for Blackburn.

But instead it was all they had to show for their efforts against a spirited but limited home side.

Santa Cruz made the breakthrough when he fired a shot into the corner after Jason Roberts had cleverly turned Heikki Pulkkinen.

Blackburn were having the majority of possession in the early stages and Santa Cruz escaped his marker in the 17th minute.

However there was not enough power on his header following a cross from David Dunn and Janne Korhonen was able to make the save.

The Finns had another scare in the 21st minute following a wayward header from Hugo Miranda after a deep cross from David Bentley.

However the home side hit back in the 23rd minute and goalkeeper Brad Friedel did well to tip away a shot from Mikko Hyyrynen.

Blackburn kept up the pressure and Bentley picked out Ryan Nelsen at the back post.

However the skipper decided to head across the area instead of trying his luck on goal and a MyPa defender cleared the ball to safety.

Then in the 36th minute Bentley weaved his way forward and thumped in a shot which Korhonen took cleanly.

The Finns to their credit were putting up a brave fight in front of a small but vociferous home crowd.

Blackburn almost grabbed a second on the stroke of half time when David Dunn strode forward.

He wasted no hesitation in firing in a powerful shot that went narrowly wide of the post.

Blackburn looked dangerous every time they broke forward with Santa Cruz at home in the forests of Finland.

However defender Christopher Samba had to look alert in the 55th minute as Eero Peltonen surged forward.

Samba managed to get a vital touch and deflected the ball to safety, much to Rovers' relief.

Blackburn almost added a second in the 60th minute when MyPa defender Toni Huttunen lost his bearings.

He chested the ball back to Korhonen, not realising the goalkeeper had come off his line - but it drifted wide of the post.

Then Korhonen's team-mate Tuomas Kansikas sliced his clearance as Stephen Warnock drove the ball in.

It swerved and dipped but ended up narrowly clearing the bar with Korhonen stranded.

Hughes decided to shake things up in the 65th minute, bringing on Matt Derbyshire for Roberts.

Like Santa Cruz, Derbyshire found the target against Middlesbrough at the weekend after stepping off the bench.

Substitute Brett Emerton nearly extended Blackburn's advantage in the 74th minute after a lovely lay-off from Santa Cruz.

He clipped in a shot from an acute angle that the goalkeeper was equal to.

Then a minute later Derbyshire saw his effort deflected over the bar in a good spell of pressure from Blackburn.

However they had to settle for a one-goal advantage going into the return leg at Ewood Park in a fortnight.