Morten Gamst Pedersen

This was also his 40th goal for the club in all competitions.

On 21 November, in the game against Aston Villa, he scored twice at Ewood Park.

First, from a free kick on the stroke of half time and the second came from a deflection off Ryan Nelsen's shot in the 66th minute.

Rovers went on to win the game 2–0.

Morten Gamst Pedersen (born 8 September 1981) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder

Gamst was required to fill the gap left by Damien Duff, who had left in July 2003 to go to Chelsea.

Pedersen began his career with Tromsø, then played for English side Blackburn Rovers between 2004 and 2013 making a total of 349 appearances.

He then played for the Turkish side Karabükspor.

In a decade-long career from 2004, Pedersen was capped 83 times and scored 17 goals for Norway.

Pedersen was born in Vadsø, Finnmark.

He had his breakthrough in the Norwegian top division club Tromsø, scoring 7 goals in the 2004 season, before he signed with Blackburn with only half a season played by August.

The fee was £1.5 million, which could rise to £2.5 million on the basis of future appearances.

Pedersen was signed by Blackburn boss Graeme Souness in 2004, just in time for the 2004–05 season.

The Norwegian international made his Premier League debut in a 1–1 draw against local rivals Manchester United on 28 August 2004, a match Blackburn were leading until deep into injury time.

He initially struggled to make an impact in the Premier League and had lengthy period of not being selected after Souness was replaced by Mark Hughes as the Blackburn manager in September 2004.

However, he started the year of 2005 by scoring against Cardiff City on his return to the side and going on to score three goals in his next three matches.

In his first season in English football he featured in 27 matches and scored 8 goals in all competitions.

2005–06 saw Pedersen make the left-midfield position his own and he scored goals, such as a volley against Fulham in August 2005 which won BBC Match of the Day's Goal of the Month.

The highlight of his Blackburn career came in September 2005, when he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

During the 2006–07 season, Pedersen seemingly struggled for form during the early half of the league season, but returned to form in the second half of the campaign.

With new management under Paul Ince in 2008, Pedersen found himself in and out of the team, but when Ince was dismissed in December 2008 and Sam Allardyce was appointed Pedersen regained a regular starting position.

He was frequently used a central attacking midfielder under Allardyce.

He went on to make more than 30 appearances for them, and scored three goals in the 2009–10 Premier League campaign, in which Blackburn finished 10th, achieving 50 points and winning 10 league games at home and three away.

Blackburn chairman, John Williams, who completed the formalities of the deal, added: "Sam made this, together with finding a striker, being our summer priority. He regards Morten as a key member of the Rovers squad and his future at Ewood Park is now secure."

On 17 April 2010, Pedersen, was poked in the cheek and then the eye from Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta, who acted angrily after Pedersen had tackled him in a challenge.

They both were booked for stopping play.

After a year of transfer negotiations, Blackburn announced that Pedersen had signed a new four-year deal at Ewood Park on 19 May 2010, which would see him stay contracted until the summer of 2014.

On 6 November 2010, he scored a 40-yard free-kick against Wigan Athletic, in a 2–1 victory at Ewood Park, playing the full 90 minutes.

Four days later, he netted against Newcastle United at St James' Park, scoring in the third minute with his right foot following an assist from Brett Emerton and he also took a punch to the stomach by Joey Barton.

At the end of the 2010–11 season, he had made 39 appearances and scored four league goals for Rovers in all competitions.

On 13 August 2011, Pedersen started against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Ewood Park in a 2–1 defeat in their opening 2011–12 Premier League fixture.

On 20 August 2011, he started against Aston Villa in a 3–1 defeat at Villa Park and scored in the 52nd minute.

On 24 August 2011, Pedersen captained Blackburn in their 3–1 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Ewood Park in the second round of the League Cup.

Three days later, in a league game with Everton at Ewood Park, he suffered a thigh injury in a 1–0 loss.

Gamst Pedersen was told in August 2013 by Blackburn Rovers that he was allowed to find himself a new club.

Berlingske Tidende reported that Gamst Pedersen was in talks with FC Copenhagen, but after the Norwegian Ståle Solbakken was hired as manager of the Danish side, he stated that he did not want to sign Gamst Pedersen.

On 30 August 2013, he joined the Turkish side Karabükspor on a free transfer, after he had made 288 league appearances for the Ewood Park outfit.

After leaving Turkish football, Gamst Pedersen returned to his native Norway to continue his football career.

He signed with Rosenborg in 2014, and won 2015 Tippeligaen, and the 2015 Norwegian Cup.

In February 2016, he returned to Tromsø.