IT was the tale of two penalties at Ewood Park, as Rovers returned to winning ways on home soil after three successive defeats.

After a forgettable first-half, Brad Friedel saved from the spot for the second game running, with Sunderland skipper Dean Whitehead the guilty party.

He was the hero at Pride Park on Sunday, saving Steve Howard's penalty when Rovers trailed 1-0 to change the game, and he was at it again tonight.

And less than five minutes later, Benni McCarthy netted his first goal in over two months, after Danny Higginbotham had handled inside the box. Chris Samba had given away the penalty away at the Blackburn End when he clattered into Daryl Murphy, but it was his spectacular over-head kick that won the decisive spot-kick in front of the visiting fans.

Sunderland's plight then went from bad to worse, when ex-Rover Dwight Yorke was sent for an early bath - something he may well have welcomed in to the bitterly cold conditions - following two reckless tackles from behind.

Before the game, Rovers made one change to the side that won 2-1 away to Derby on Sunday, with Samba restored to the starting line-up following the birth of his baby boy, with Zurab Khizanishvili dropping to the bench.

Sunderland made three changes following their weekend victory over Bolton and it was the visitors who made the better start. On 10 minutes, Murphy broke down the left flank and his fierce low drive, which eluded the sliding challenge of Brett Emerton, was well kept out by Friedel.

Two minutes later, Kenwyne Jones skipped past the challenge of Rovers captain Ryan Nelsen, but he fired wide of the far post from the opposite angle.

After a handball from Yorke 25 yards out, David Bentley came within a whisker of opening the scoring for the home side with a crisply-struck curler and Rovers threatened again from another Bentley free-kick just past the half-hour mark, but Roque Santa Cruz failed to direct his glancing header on target.

Tugay was pulling the strings for the hosts, whilst Yorke was doing the same for Sunderland and when the former Manchester United man stepped inside the Rovers veteran to feed Jones, the Trinidad and Tobago striker's shot was comfortably saved by Friedel.

Both sides replaced their star strikers at the break, with Matt Derbyshire coming on for Santa Cruz, who is known to have picked up countless bumps and bruises over the hectic festive period, and Sunderland's Grant Leadbitter taking over from Jones.

With Murphy now pushed up in a more advanced position for the visitors, the switch appeared to have the desired effect for Roy Keane's side, as just six minutes into the second half, a rash Samba challenge sent the Irishman tumbling to the ground following a ball into the box, but for the second game running, Friedel guessed the right way to deny Whitehead's poorly-struck penalty.

And just three minutes later, Samba made immediate amends, when his acrobatic goal-bound volley struck the arm of Higginbotham, referee Rob Styles again pointed to the spot and this time McCarthy, who missed his last one away at Wigan, blasted the ball past Craig Gordon.

And any hopes of a Sunderland revival soon faded when Yorke picked up two bookings in five minutes for scything tackles on first Derbyshire and then the injured striker's replacement David Dunn.

The dismissal effectively ended the game as a contest, as Rovers' lead never looked in doubt with the man advantage.

Whitehead's miserable night was almost complete in the closing stages when he almost headed a Morten Gamst Pedersen free-kick into his own net and not even the arrival of another former Rovers favourite, Andy Cole, could spark any life into the wind-battered Wearsiders.

Rovers were able to comfortably hold out for the points and that's now a second successive league 'double' over Sunderland and the third year in a row that Mark Hughes' men have kicked things off with a win.