Carling Cup - Rampant Tevez cuts down Blackburn

Eurosport - Thu, 04 Dec 10:07:00 2008

A rampant Carlos Tevez scored a hat-trick to propel Manchester United to a 5-3 victory against Blackburn Rovers in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.

FOOTBALL Carlos Tevez Manchester United - 0

The Argentine international striker, a peripheral figure at United since the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov in the summer, thought he had scored the opener on 36 minutes - which went down as an Aaron Mokoena own goal - but there was no disputing his three second-half strikes in a scintillating performance.

Nani was also on the scoresheet for Sir Alex Ferguson's team, who overwhelmed Blackburn with a vibrant and composed display that belied the relative inexperience of several players in the line-up.

Two goals from substitute Benni McCarthy and one from Matt Derbyshire put a respectable gloss on the scoreline for the visitors, but in truth Paul Ince's side were comprehensively beaten and never in contention.

Blackburn did enjoy the first genuine chance of the evening, however, when Stephen Warnock's header drew an acrobatic save from United goalkeeper Ben Foster.

But United soon asserted themselves in midfield and with Anderson, Nani and Tevez buzzing productively in the final third it was only a matter of time before they went ahead.

After Darron Gibson won a free-kick on the right, Ryan Giggs swung an inviting ball towards the far post and Tevez's close attendance forced Mokoena to bundle the ball into his own net.

Five minutes later United doubled their lead. This time Tevez turned provider, teeing up Nani to fire a low shot past Robinson from just inside the box.

Blackburn looked a beaten side, but when substitute McCarthy scored almost immediately after his introduction for the second half, getting in behind Gary Neville to fire past Foster in some style, the visitors suddenly had a foothold in the game.

It lasted no more than two minutes. United won a penalty when Andre Oojier pulled down Tevez and the Argentine strolled up to calmly send Robinson the wrong way and put United 3-1 ahead.

Their best was yet to come. Just short of the hour mark, Anderson, Giggs and Tevez combined in a sumptuous three-player move, which culminated in a simple tap-in for the Argentine forward to complete his hat-trick.

United wasted several chances to increase their lead, and with 84 minutes on the clock McCarthy crossed for Derbyshire to poke home what appeared at first little more than a consolation for Blackburn.

But five minutes later Derbyshire returned the favour and McCarthy finished clinically to make it 4-3.

Before Blackburn had time to launch one last desperate attack, however, Tevez ran on to a through ball and blasted emphatically home to seal a deserved win for United and book his team's place in the semi-finals.

Moreover, the United striker sent the boldest of messages to his manager, who can surely not ignore him after this performance.

Will Tidey / Eurosport

Comment 42 - 61 of 81

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  1. Actually, I think United should use Tevez instead of­ Berbatov if they want to play 2 strikers (excluding­ their makeshift strikers like Ronaldo and Nani). Or,­ they could just play a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 formation to suit­ all 3 strikers. In the first place, they need not have­ bought Berbatov, he's old and is slowing down­ already. They need a youngster to use as a sub, perhaps­ they should consider buying Ben Arfa from Marseille.

    From quilava_ex, on Thu 4 Dec 8:44AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    apparently the FIFA are considering reinstating a law­ called the 'UGLY RULE', last discussed when­ Rush and Beardsley were at liverpool. this will mean­ that tevez, neville and rooney will not be allowed on­ the pitch at the same time because it frightens the­ children in the crowd.

    From busybee, on Thu 4 Dec 8:43AM

  3. No 54 PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME! WHY DO WE HAVE TO WORRY­ ABOUT LIVERPOOL?

    From jason, on Thu 4 Dec 8:28AM

  4. WELL DONE UTD..KNEW YOU COULD DO IT GUYS.

    From L H, on Thu 4 Dec 8:11AM

  5. on the man utd website i've commented that they­ should never let tevez down, but give him the role he­ likes!
    why not do a rotation between all three players­ since we can't win trophies without having three­ great players to do the job!
    why not let them play all­ three in the next game against sunderland, berba can be­ playing in the midfield instead of the supspended best­ world player!
    we really need tevez, he's great and­ a non stop player who runs for 120 minutes all over the­ pitch :P

    joseph (panda) from lebanon!

    From joseph k, on Thu 4 Dec 8:07AM

  6. Well done blackburn - great courage and great fighters,­ great match. Someone had to win and United money bags­ were always favourites, but be proud Blackburn , great­ show for the great game..Liverpool Fan

    From not printable, on Thu 4 Dec 8:04AM

  7. Tevez you beast...that last goal was toplclass!!!! well­ done!

    From husainhassim, on Thu 4 Dec 7:52AM

  8. mature

    From Nana, on Thu 4 Dec 7:33AM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Man U RRRROOOOOCCCCCKKKKK, that is the reason they won,­ and thanks to Burnley MU only have to worry about­ Liverpool

    From chris.hammie, on Thu 4 Dec 7:31AM

  10. i guess this is Tevez's way of telling Fergie­ "that's why u shudnt put me on the­ bench." As a United fan, i'd say give him more­ play time. start him more than Berbatov. the­ Tevez-Rooney partnership from last season shud be­ resurrected if they want to win silverware this season.­ i like Berba but Tevez's work rate is wayyy better.

    From Aliaa, on Thu 4 Dec 7:10AM

  11. CARLOS TEVEZ REMAINS THE BEST STRIRKER IN THE WORLD.THE­ GUY IS GOOD. I THINK SIR, NEEDS TO WAKE UP TO MAKE GOOD­ USE OF WHAT HE HAS BEFORE TEVEZ LEAVES.

    From Nkem A, on Thu 4 Dec 7:09AM

  12. For goodness sake, give Berbatov a break. This is just­ his first season in manU. With time he will blend. As­ for Tevez, let me just say that every striker has his­ day. Berbatov has also scored two goals in one match.­ Dont be suprised if Tevez fails to perform in other­ games

    From bisi_ade2000, on Thu 4 Dec 7:05AM

  13. u have to give it to alex ferguson, he certainly knows­ how to put a team together, looks like they will be­ back on top soon enough

    From ralph, on Thu 4 Dec 6:57AM

  14. Brilliant display from the manutd 2nd team. the mix of­ youth and experience really gave the young players the­ courage to control the game. if fergy doesnt include­ tevez in the 1st team in the next few games it'll­ be very discouraging for the guy. Fergy has a nice team­ to bring up for the near future.

    From mwakio, on Thu 4 Dec 6:44AM

  15. hey,man.u is not doing too well lately,isn't­ alarming that when ever we thought it's finish the­ opponent come scoring us over and over again?look at­ what happen with hull the other time repeated itself­ last night,i hope man.u,will tighten up their belt and­ work on their defence seriously to prevent such in the­ games to come,as for teves he's an outstanding­ player,it's unfortunate he's become the­ scapegoat since the arrival of barbertov,he's 100­ percent better and deserve to be in our first choice­ not barbertov

    From uwangue, on Thu 4 Dec 6:07AM

  16. nice one rush_back , good to see a real football­ supporter on this site for a change , not the usual­ @#$%***'s that are usually mouthing off here. As a­ Manu supporter I really like Tevez , i think he has a­ great work ethic team wise unlike Berbatov who seems to­ wait for the ball instead of going looking for it­ .Rooney has that same drive in him and i think it­ should be rooney and tevez who spearhead united's­ attack and bring on berbatov if the game needs changing­ !

    From petersheridan45, on Thu 4 Dec 5:58AM

  17. United won....Tevez is staying at Old Trafford next­ season.

    From Dinesh, on Thu 4 Dec 5:57AM

  18. carlos tevez gave an answer to alex ferguson, what is­ to become of tevez if he joins real madrid, i can;nt­ understand how the manager has a jewel of a striker in­ carlos tevez and leave him on the bench, i am a united­ supporter and can't bear it that we may leave a­ striker like tevez. good show carlitos.

    From Fredu, on Thu 4 Dec 5:51AM

  19. isn"t it great to hear Man Utd supporters arguing­ who to have up front as a top­ Stricker............Thats"s when you know you top­ class !

    From billy b, on Thu 4 Dec 5:24AM

  20. TEVEZ IS MASTERCLASS .. BETTER THAN BERBATOV. I THINK­ FERGI IS STUPID OR MORON. TEVEZ HELP MAN U WINNING­ LEAGUE AND CHAMPION LEAGUE AND STILL HE LEFT TEVEZ ON­ THE BENCH .. WHAT A F...... IDIOT ...

    From azhanm, on Thu 4 Dec 5:04AM
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