28 February 2007
Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Arsenal

In a less than entertaining Cup tie, it took something special from Benni McCarthy to light up Ewood Park.

Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Arsenal
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Fifth Round Proper Replays
8pm, Wednesday 28 February 2007
Ewood Park
Live on Sky Sports
Winning clubs will receive £120,000 from The FA
Each televised club will receive £265,000 from The FA
Fifth Round  - Click Here



Benni McCarthy made Arsenal pay for some poor finishing as Blackburn booked their place in the Sixth Round of The FA Cup.

Rovers had hardly troubled the visitors in the opening 85 minutes of the tie at Ewood Park, before stunning the Gunners late on.

There was little Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia could do to prevent the spectacular winner as McCarthy cut in from the left wing before hammering the ball into the top corner of the net from the edge of the box.

Until that moment, Arsene Wenger's makeshift side had largely been in control, but they failed to put the ball in the net and paid the ultimate price.

Injuries and suspensions robbed Wenger of a host of first-team players, so the likes of Armand Traore, Denilson and Jeremie Aliadiere were handed starts.

Unlike the previous night's Fifth Round replay between Manchester United and Reading there was to be no dramatic opening.

Both sides struggled to settle and goalscoring chances were at a premium, until Arsenal grabbed control after 20 minutes.

It took that long for either team to get a clear opportunity - and even then Aliadiere miscontrolled deep in box to let the home side off the hook.

Blackburn were perhaps even more fortunate a few moments later when referee Graham Poll ignored Arsenal's appeals for a penalty after Brett Emerton appeared to trip Fredrik Ljunberg right on the edge of the box.

Arsenal were frustrated at the decision, but they only had themselves to blame when another gilt-edged chance went begging as Julio Baptista headed over from six yards.

The Gunners continued to dominate, but yet another decent opening was wasted before the break as Ljungberg failed to control a pinpoint pass with the Blackburn defence sliced open.

Arsenal's stranglehold remained at the start of the second-half and they finally forced Brad Friedel into making a save when Baptista fired in from the edge of the box.

The Blackburn keeper later pulled off an even better stop after the Brazilian let fly from even further out.

Rovers were finding it hard to stamp any authority on the game and Mark Hughes was furious when Morten Gamst Pedersen blazed wide when they finally crafted a decent move on 58 minutes.

There was little else in the way of a Blackburn attack until the dramatic McCarthy goal and the home side held on to claim a famous cup win.

The Lancashire side will now play Manchester City in the Sixth Round.