The fifth round tie between Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers was a good old fashioned FA Cup scrap.
Ex Swansea and Sunderland striker Danny Graham opened the scoring in the 17th minute courtesy of some superb skill by Marvin Emnes. There were glimpses of the Blackburn team of the nineties and not the one currently fighting for survival in the Championship.
United themselves produced their own bit of magic with the equaliser in the 27th minute, sweeping forward after an interception from a Blackburn free kick to see Marcus Rashford yet again show calmness long before his years cooly guide the ball past Rovers keeper, Jason Steele into the net.
In the 62nd minute, with United struggling to break down a solid Blackburn defence, Jose Mourinho turned to his high profile cavalry and within 15 minutes of their arrival, Paul Pogba was picking out Zlatan Ibrahimovic with an inch-perfect pass for him to slot into the far corner.
Blackburn painted a good picture of themselves and if they continue to play as they did on Sunday evening they should survive the season in the championship. Owen Coyle showed good faith in his youngsters bringing both Connor Mahoney and Willem Tomlinson into the game in search of an equaliser, the latter for his debut.
Mahoney in particular was lively for the 17 minutes he played, darting past United’s defenders on a number of occasions. With him only having six months left on his current deal, Rovers will do well to keep hold of him if he continues to perform to that standard on a regular basis.
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