Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho hailed the attitude of his players after they overcame a stubborn Blackburn Rovers to reach the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup.
United did not have it all their own way at Ewood Park, and went behind to Danny Graham’s impressive strike on 17 minutes, after good work by strike partner Marvin Emnes.
However, United hit back ten minutes later through Marcus Rashford, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s composed finish 15 minutes from time sealed the win.
Blackburn piled forward in search of an equaliser, and had the ball in the net in the closing stages, but substitute Anthony Stokes was ruled offside after tapping home.
The Championship strugglers matched United for much of the encounter, and Mourinho said he was impressed with his players’ attitude, with the Portuguese saying his side could have easily lost the game if they did not apply themselves correctly.
He said: “The attitude of every player was really good.
“With a different attitude, we would lose, because I think Blackburn were a good team, better than the Blackburn of the Championship. They had amazing attitude, amazing belief, and they gave us a really hard match. I’m really happy with my players.”
Mourinho reserved extra praise for Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba, after the two substitutes linked up for United’s winner.
“When I have important players on the bench, I can try to make an impact, it doesn’t always work, but I can try,” Mourinho added.
"I spoke with Paul and Zlatan at half-time and in a moment of need they were ready to come with the right attitude for the team.
“I am happy with the victory – I think we deserved to win, but Blackburn may feel they deserve to go to Old Trafford [for the replay].”
Ibrahimovic added: “Every game is unpredictable, especially in The FA Cup. Every game is like a final. It doesn’t matter if teams are playing in the Premier League or not, with so many results not going to the favourites.
“We pay attention in every game we have, we do not underestimate anybody.”
Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): 1 Jason Steele, 14 Charlie Mulgrew, 5 Derrick Williams, 3 Gordon Greer, 6 Jason Lowe, 32 Craig Conway, 23 Danny Guthrie, 26 Darragh Lenihan, 7 Liam Feeney, 12 Danny Graham, 17 Marvin Emnes.
Substitutes: 28 Conor Mahoney (73), 9 Anthony Stokes (77), 27 Willem Tomlinson (81).
Substitutes not used: 20 Stephen Hendrie, 24 Ryan Nyambe, 30 Wes Brown, 33 David Raya.
Head coach: Owen Coyle
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): 20 Sergio Romero, 14 Ashley Young, 5 Marcus Rojo, 12 Chris Smalling, 36 Matteo Darmian, 16 Michael Carrick, 21 Ander Herrera, 14 Jesse Lingard, 22 Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 11 Anthony Martial, 19 Marcus Rashford.
Substitutes: 6 Paul Pogba (62), 9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (62), 8 Juan Mata (89).
Substitutes not used: 34 Dean Henderson, 3 Eric Bailly, 23 Luke Shaw, 31 Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Head coach: Jose Mourinho
Goals: Rashford 27 Ibrahimovic 75
Attendance: 23,130
