Blackburn hit back to draw with Charlton thanks to Moussa Baradji brace

Moussa Baradji scored his first Blackburn goals as his brace helped Rovers hit back from two down to snatch an entertaining 2-2 draw with fellow strugglers Charlton.

Winless in four games and without a goal in three, Blackburn looked set to slip deeper into relegation trouble when a quickfire Charlie Kelman double, a close-range volley in the 28th minute and a controversial penalty six minutes later, put the visitors in command.

But the beleaguered hosts displayed plenty of character and on-loan midfielder Baradji halved the deficit before half-time with a thumping header before slotting home a deserved equaliser 13 minutes from time.

The point moved Valerien Ismael’s side four clear of the drop zone. Charlton are winless in four but remain a place and a point above Rovers.

A cagey opening was low on quality, with the only moments of note a wayward Todd Cantwell shot for the hosts and speculative Tyreece Campbell effort at the other end.

The first moment of quality resulted in the opening goal as James Bree’s whipped cross from the right was met by Miles Leaburn and, although his header crashed off the crossbar, Kelman was alert to volley the rebound home.

Things went from bad to worse for Rovers when referee David Webb pointed to the spot after Lloyd Jones went down in the area, even though Harry Pickering pulled out of his challenge.

Kelman stepped up and slotted his penalty into the bottom left corner for his fourth goal of the season.

Rovers responded almost immediately when Cantwell stood up a cross from the right that picked ou the onrushing Baradji, who leapt above the defence to bury his leader beyond Thomas Kaminski.

Blackburn made a positive start to the second period but were indebted to Lewis Miller’s goal-saving intervention in the 54th minute when he diverted Bree’s superb low cross behind, with Campbell lurking to tap in.

A moment of inspiration from full debutant Tom Atcheson almost yielded an equaliser as he nipped the ball away from a Charlton defender and set himself up for a volley that forced a sprawling save from Kaminski.

The game felt more frantic as Rovers desperately searched an equaliser.

Substitute Dion De Neve crossed for Miller at the back post, but his header was comfortable for Kaminski, while at the other end the danger remained and only a sensational last-ditch challenge from Sean McLoughlin prevented Leaburn from scoring a third in the 71st minute.

Rovers deservedly pulled level with 13 minutes remaining and once again a perfectly-timed Baradji run did the damage as he arrived in the area to meet Miller’s low centre and fire beyond Kaminski.