Life is much easier when you have Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to bring off the bench. Blackburn Rovers gave Manchester United a scare and were in with a shout even after Marcus Rashford’s way. But Jose Mourinho swung the game United’s way when he brought on Pogba and Ibrahimovic, who combined for the latter’s late winner. A proud effort from Blackburn, then, but it’s United who march into the last eight of the FA Cup. That’s all from me today. Thanks for reading. Bye.
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Full-time: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Manchester United
That’s your lot!
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90 min+3: “We want Venky’s out!” the Blackburn fans chant.
90 min+1: United get the corner away, but Blackburn haven’t given up yet.
90 min: There will be four added minutes. Blackburn are still pressing. And they’ve got a corner! “That was the best and worst of keeping (though Darmian was somewhat to blame),” syas Matt Richman. “I think the second block came off his face. Is there a term for that goalkeeping trifecta? Hands, face, and feet I mean.”
89 min: Juan Mata replaces Marcus Rashford.
86 min: Blackburn have the ball in the United net, but the flag’s up for offside. Sergio Romero is mightily relieved, though. The dangerous Mahoney cut inside from the right and shot with his left foot. It was straight at Romero, but the United goalkeeper couldn’t hold it and spilled the ball at the feet of Stokes. He redeemed himself by blocking the rebound, then by saving the second follow-up from Emnes. The ball ran free for Stokes again and he put it into the empty net from close range, but he was standing in an offside position.
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85 min: Blackburn look knackered now.
83 min: Mahoney embarrasses Pogba with another swish of the hips. Pogba swipes his legs away. Martin Atkinson decides not to book him.
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81 min: Blackburn make their final change, Willem Tomlinson on for his debut in place of Danny Guthrie.
79 min: Blackburn have been stubborn and brave. But that goal always felt likely. United’s extra class has made the difference.
77 min: Anthony Stokes replaces Danny Graham, Blackburn’s goalscorer.
GOAL! Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Manchester United (Ibrahimovic, 75 min)
Paul Pogba looks up and lofts a pass over the top of the Blackburn defence. Ibrahimovic is onside. He waits for the ball to fall and then opens up his body to guide a low right-footed finish into the bottom left corner. The substitutes have combined. Jose Mourinho will be delighted with himself.
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74 min: Connor Mahoney instantly shows what he’s all about, beating Darmian with a fine piece of skill on the right before winning a Blackburn corner.
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73 min: Connor Mahoney replaces the impressive Liam Feeney.
71 min: Herrera lines one up from 20 yards. A deflection off Lenihan takes it wide for a United corner on the left. It’s a waste, though.
70 min: Williams hangs a cross towards the far post, but Feeney’s header is harmless. Up the other end, Mkhitaryan finds Ibrahimovic with a gorgeous ball over the top of the Blackburn defence, but the Swede completely misses his kick after controlling with his chest on the left of the area. Blame the increasing mist.
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68 min: Herrera darts towards the byline on the left. But it’s a goal-kick to Blackburn. They’re having to defend with superb organisation, but United are still finding it immensely difficult to prise them open.
67 min: Blackburn manage to break out of their half for the first time in a while and Mulgrew cleverly spreads a pass out to Feeney on the right. His curling cross bends over Romero, but no one’s near at the far post.
66 min: Blackburn are beginning to hang on now. The pressure is growing.
65 min: Influential already, Pogba injects urgency into United’s play with a pass out to Rashford on the left. He dribbles infield and sees his shot deflected wide for a corner.
63 min: Pogba, booed immediately by the home fans, plays a pass inside to Herrera. His low shot slithers across the face of goal, just evading the stretching Ibrahimovic in the six-yard box.
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62 min: Martial teases Blackburn on the left and chips a ball to the far post. Williams blasts it clear. That gives United a chance to bring on Paul Pogba for Jesse Lingard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the disappointing Martial.
59 min: Mourinho has had just about enough of this impertinence. Pogba and Ibrahimovic are getting ready to come on.
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57 min: Mkhitaryan threads a ball through to Young on the right. His low centre is too close to Steele. He’s down as well after being caught late by Conway.
55 min: Herrera slips as he take a United free-kick on the right and lifts the ball high over the bar, much to the amusement of the Blackburn fans. Pogba and Ibrahimovic are warming up. Up the other end, Feeney sends another cracking cross into the United area from the right. Young heads behind for a corner.
52 min: Lingard picks up a booking for a trip on the excellent Emnes.
50 min: United haven’t really be able to get Martial in the game yet. Expect another six weeks in the reserves for the Frenchman if this doesn’t change soon. They could do with a bit more pace to their passing, though. They’ve played a lot of their football in front of Blackburn’s back four.
49 min: Conway turns on the edge of the United area and shoots straight at Romero.
47 min: The FA Cup, eh? Blackburn haven’t remotely looked like a side sitting second bottom in the Championship. They’re playing above themselves here - and they’ll probably be struggling again next week.
46 min: Blackburn get the second half underway. The rain’s starting to fall.
Half-time: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Manchester United
An enjoyable half of football draws to a close and Blackburn are likely to be very pleased with how this has unfolded. The Championship strugglers took the lead through Danny Graham and although Marcus Rashford equalised for United, they’ve acquitted themselves very well. United will expect to improve after the break - and they still have plenty of firepower on the bench - but don’t rule out another upset here. See you in 15 minutes.
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45 min+2: Carrick switches play with calm authority and finds Young on the right. He takes a touch and swings in a cross that finds Lingard unmarked at the near post. He should score but fails to make proper contact and Blackburn get away with it, not that they had much to do with the game remaining level.
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45 min: There will be at least three minutes of the added stuff.
43 min: A lull.
40 min: Blackburn are causing problems for United when they attack. Here they pump a high ball into the United area and it’s headed down to Mulgrew. His side-footed effort is deflected wide for a corner. It comes to nothing.
39 min: Liam Feeney runs at Darmian, not for the first time in this half, and whips a cross into the middle. Romero doesn’t look convincing at all and he just about manages to punch it to safety.
37 min: Charlie Mulgrew picks up his head and pings a beautiful pass from right to left for Conway, who’s run off Ashley Young. Conway’s through! But Young does enough to scamper back and put Conway off as he shoots. His effort rises over the angle of post and bar. What a chance for Blackburn.
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36 min: Herrera tries to catch Blackburn out with a training ground routine of a free-kick, pulling it back low to the edge of the area, but Lenihan reads it and leads a counterattack, only to run out of steam after breaking past the halfway line and losing the ball to the determined Mkhitaryan.
35 min: Ashley Young is brought down by Williams deep on the right flank. Williams is booked and United have a free-kick in a promising position.
34 min: Martial cuts inside from the left and shoots with his right foot. It’s blocked. It runs to Rashford, who flicks it back into the middle, but Blackburn hack it clear.
32 min: Blackburn are down to 10 men for the time being, Emnes feeling the back of his neck as he walks off, but he should be fine to continue.
31 min: Marvin Emnes is down after coming off worst in an aerial challenge with Chris Smalling.
30 min: United win a free-kick in a dangerous position. Mkhitaryan can’t do anything with this, though, clipping it straight into the wall.
GOAL! Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Manchester United (Rashford, 27 min)
A free-kick to Blackburn in Manchester United territory. But it comes to nothing and United break with ominous intent and acres of space to attack. There’s still so much for Mkhitaryan to do, though. But from a deep position, he spots Rashford’s run and finds him with a peach of a pass with the outside of his right foot. Rashford’s through, onside and although he hasn’t scored for ages, he confidently rounds Steele and rolls the ball into the empty net. That’s quite the response from United.
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26 min: Mkhitaryan has a go from 30 yards. His effort fizzes wide.
25 min: Herrera runs on to a pass from Young and wins a corner on the right. It comes to nothing.
24 min: Manchester United are threatening to wake up. Ander Herrera strides through the middle and slides a pass through to Lingard on the right. Lingard puts the ball into the six-yard box and it’s cleared as far as Herrera, who rams a shot back towards goal, forcing Steele to save excellently. The rebound comes to Lingard, but he’s offside.
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22 min: Martial’s cross is headed away and Blackburn counter. Conway tries to find Graham, but his pass is overhit.
19 min: “We want Venky’s out!” chant the Blackburn fans. They’re enjoying themselves right now, but they haven’t forgotten the bigger picture.
GOAL! Blackburn 1-0 Manchester United (Graham, 16 min)
This is a brilliant goal and Ewood Park erupts! Having given United a scare with shot a moment ago, confidence flows through Marvin Emnes and he torments Marcos Rojo, using strength to hold him off and turning magnificently away from the Argentinian. He gets his head up and slips a pass through to Graham, who spins away from Chris Smalling far too easily before walloping a rising drive high past Sergio Romero with his left foot! Even Jose Mourinho nods and applauds. The underdogs are ahead!
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15 min: After a spell of decent Blackburn pressure, Marvin Emnes locates rare space 25 yards from goal and lets fly with a wobbling, swerving, vicious effort that Sergio Romero has to watch carefully and beat away to safety. It was fairly central, but it was moving so much that Romero had to react smartly.
12 min: Rashford plays a snappy one-two with Michael Carrick and bursts past Gordon Greer, but Lenihan covers well, forcing the forward wide and shepherding the ball behind for a goal-kick.
10 min: Charlie Mulgrew is back on. Play continues.
9 min: Play has been stopped. Charlie Mulgrew is down with an ankle injury.
8 min: Lingard burns down the right and completely overwhelms Conway, who can’t live with the winger’s pace or strength. The United youngster makes his way into the Blackburn area and finds Mkhitaryan, but the Armenian’s touch is heavy and neither he nor Martial can find a way through the home defence.
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7 min: Ashley Young, who scored the last time United were at Ewood Park, charges down the right but overruns the ball and the move ends with Blackburn earning a goal-kick. It’s been a slow start.
5 min: Feeney probes again down the right and hooks a cross towards the near post. Danny Graham gets in front of his man and nudges the ball goalwards, but his effort loops harmlessly at Romero.
4 min: Blackburn spring forward for the first time and Liam Feeney shows fine persistence to win a throw deep on the right. I thought it was a corner. A throw’s less exciting, isn’t it.
2 min: Manchester United are dominating the early possession, unsurprisingly, with Blackburn content to sit off and soak up the pressure.
And we’re off! Manchester United, in red shirts and black shorts, get the game underway and they’re kicking from left to right in the first half. Blackburn are in their blue and white shirts.
The teams are in the tunnel and Ewood Park is close to capacity for once this afternoon. The players emerge to a huge roar. It’s a grey Lancashire afternoon. Is there any cup magic in the air? We’ll find out soon enough!
A reminder of better times for Blackburn fans.
#prayforsweden - I assume there will be a minute’s silence before kick-off.
@JacobSteinberg have to admire Zlatan making himself available from the bench after what happened in Sweden last night. #brave
— ulto ryan (@ultoryan) February 19, 2017
The teams!
Blackburn Rovers: Steele; Lowe, Lenihan, Greer, Williams; Conway, Guthrie, Mulgrew, Feeney; Emnes, Graham. Subs: Raya, Stokes, Hendrie, Nyambe, Tomlinson, Mahoney, Brown.
Manchester United: Romero; Young, Smalling, Rojo, Darmian; Carrick, Herrera; Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Martial; Rashford. Subs: Henderson, Bailly, Shaw, Schweinsteiger, Pogba, Mata, Ibrahimovic.
Referee: Martin Atkinson.
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The Blackburn team hasn’t been announced yet, but Manchester United’s is in. Jose Mourinho has made changes, but Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are available on the bench in the unlikely event of an emergency.
Preamble
Hello. If fans of Leicester City think they have it bad, they should have a look at the state of these former Premier League champions and think again. Relax, this isn’t the start of a riff about post-Fergie Manchester United. Instead this is about the plight of poor, mistreated Blackburn Rovers and the hell they’ve been put through by their owners, the absurd Venky’s, who show no sign of getting their act together seven years since they first pitched up at Ewood Park promising to sign Ronaldinho and David Beckham before hiring Steve Kean in place of Sam Allardyce. Relegation inevitably followed in 2011 and now Blackburn are second bottom in the Championship, £120m in debt and play home games in front of sparse crowds. There should be nothing but excitement before a local derby in the FA Cup against their wealthy neighbours, but Blackburn’s fans, grotesquely let down by the authorities, have responded to being given a home draw against United with a collective shrug of the shoulders.
Blackburn versus Manchester United: for people of a certain age, it’s a fixture with a nostalgic tinge to it. This was one of English football’s finest rivalries in the 90s, with Blackburn making good use of Jack Walker’s cash by putting together a team good enough first to challenge Sir Alex Ferguson’s great United side in 1993-94, then to nab the title off them in dramatic circumstances the following year, with a little help from Ludo Miklosko, it must be said. Twenty-two years later, that’s still a famous team: Tim Flowers in goal, Colin Hendry at the back, Tim Sherwood in midfield, Wilcox and Ripley on the wings, the SAS up front. It wasn’t sustainable, of course, Reality caught up with Blackburn soon enough. Alan Shearer left for Newcastle in 1996 and that team gradually fell apart, going down in 1999, but Blackburn bounced back in 2001 and re-established themselves as a solid Premier League outfit, winning the League Cup in 2002.
But these are grim times. We have seen some famous Cup upsets already this weekend, Lincoln stunning Burnley, Millwall beating Leicester, and perhaps United will be jaded after their Europa League exertions on Thursday and have one eye on next Sunday’s League Cup final against Southampton. You’ll get long odds on Owen Coyle’s struggling side beating Jose Mourinho’s men, however, and even if they do, the question is whether anyone in the town of Blackburn will really care that much.
Kick-off: 4.15pm GMT.
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