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

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  1. Well done to Blackburn for never giving up and making a­ game of it from being 4-1 down. United are not firing­ on top form but are getting results at least, however,­ recent form is a concern when were behind Liverpool in­ the premiership! Liverpool are hungary for the title­ and should not be disrespected or put down. Returning­ back to the main topic "hope we don't get­ Burnley in the semi's or were stuffed, lol! seems­ like they can beat anyone in the carling cup"

    From stephen d, on Thu 4 Dec 2:56AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ok why dont u want 2 travel @#$% ......visit us i will­ do 15 time ...and iam opened mind boy who love sex

    From akam, on Thu 4 Dec 2:53AM

  3. as united fan i been always hated berba coz he is not­ good as tevez and he will never be with out 2nighte­ game tevez much better pleyer but @#$% hate 2 see tevez­ on the bench his realy topstriker

    From akam, on Thu 4 Dec 2:40AM

  4. the last player man united should sell now is tevez.I­ think we should even play with ten men on the field­ than having players like barba in our game to @#$% it­ of.

    From madelphine, on Thu 4 Dec 2:26AM

  5. I just want to think God that running and falling­ Ronaldo was not in this game to help us @#$% it­ of.Tevez prove himselfe as one of the best we have for­ now.somebody please tell fergie that we need a team­ that we can be sure of and not doubt when there a any­ serious match.

    From madelphine, on Thu 4 Dec 2:21AM

  6. Tevez in Berbatof out, get somwe money back

    From , on Thu 4 Dec 2:19AM

  7. I just want to agree with Valentine on that barba­ thing.Fergie is doing all he can to prove that he did­ the right thing by bringing that rotten man call­ barbatov.if not tevez or rooney than please bring­ Benzema,not this striker who doesn't even go after­ the ball but wait for it and @#$% it of.he should leave­ in jan.he's a mess...

    From madelphine, on Thu 4 Dec 2:15AM

  8. Tevez is the man! If ManU dont want to use him, send­ him over to Liverpool. Im sure he can do more than­ Keane..

    From Liverpool FC Rules, on Thu 4 Dec 2:05AM

  9. ITS TIME FOR SIR FURGI TO SEE THE MAIN MAN IN CARLOS­ T,I.M SORRY TO SAY THAT THE MAN FROM B NAMED WITH A B­ JUST DOES NOT FIT THE BILL,HE MUST BE ABLE TO WORK­ HARDER,BE MORE MOBILE ,WHEH HE PLAYS THE UTD WE LOVE­ DOES NOT GELL AT ALL.
    COME ON SIR FURGI,BE THE MAN YOU­ ARE ,EITHER GET THE B MAN TO WORK FOR THE TEAM ,OR SHIP­ HIM OUT.CARLOS T. IS NOT THE BIT MAN MAKE IT WORK WITH­ THE ROO SOMEHOW. SO EXCITED HERE ON THE THE BEACH IN­ THE GRAN CANARIA WHERE I ABIDE,BEING ABLE TO VERB UP­ THE SO CALLED BLUES AND ARSENEL FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS.

    From Micheal, on Thu 4 Dec 1:52AM

  10. To rush_bach,
    It's nice to see that a fan for­ another team can have a balanced opinion on another ­ and not feel the need to say they hate this team and­ that team. I'm a ManU fan, but enjoy watching the­ other teams in the league, like Chelsea, Arsenal,­ Liverpool and in particular, Hull City. It's­ always great to see a team like Hull show the bigger­ teams that they can do as good as they can with a­ fraction of their budget.

    From Andrew, on Thu 4 Dec 1:50AM

  11. Without a doubt, Tevez played like a champion tonight.­ I would like to add this, that when United won the­ Champions league in 99, they had 4 strikers, all top­ class, who were rotated and got plenty of playing time.­ Last season, we struggled with 3 strikers, although­ Ronaldo's 42 goals and roaming around helped take­ up the slack.
    This year, with 3 strikers again ( Tevez,­ Rooney, Berbatov ) and the mercurial Ronaldo, once­ again, we are failing to live up to the standards of­ the '99 squad. We are struggling to win games that­ we ought to win comfortably.
    Without a doubt, Tevez­ needs more matches, in order to maintain his sharpness,­ confidence and morale. I still think we need another­ top drawer striker and a system of rotating them.
    It­ was nice to see some of the younger, less experienced­ players get valuable match time though.

    From David, on Thu 4 Dec 1:36AM

  12. ITS TIME FOR SIR FURGI TO SEE THE MAIN MAN IN CARLOS­ T,I.M SORRY TO SAY THAT THE MAN FROM B NAMED WITH A B­ JUST DOES NOT FIT THE BILL,HE MUST BE ABLE TO WORK­ HARDER,BE MORE MOBILE ,WHEH HE PLAYS THE UTD WE LOVE­ DOES NOT GELL AT ALL.
    COME ON SIR FURGI,BE THE MAN YOU­ ARE ,EITHER GET THE B MAN TO WORK FOR THE TEAM ,OR SHIP­ HIM OUT.CARLOS T. IS NOT THE BIT MAN MAKE IT WORK WITH­ THE ROO SOMEHOW. SO EXCITED HERE ON THE THE BEACH IN­ THE GRAN CANARIA WHERE I ABIDE,BEING ABLE TO VERB UP­ THE SO CALLED BLUES AND ARSENEL FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS.

    From Micheal, on Thu 4 Dec 1:34AM

  13. arsenal fans always said that they are better than man­ utd bcause they had beaten us........but when man utd­ win over other clubs arsenal sure lose or get a­ draw....for example : man utd win over blackburn and­ burnley crashes arsenal out of carling cup.......

    From flamers_united94, on Thu 4 Dec 1:31AM

  14. Great to have Tevez back in the fold. Surely Ferguson­ can be a bit more flexible with his strikers and get­ Tevez in more often. It did afterall keep the team on­ their toes every match and must of help the in the­ league. Giggs has shown again that he still has more­ to give, but Gary Neville is not looking good at all­ and he should not be chosen over defenders that did so­ well in his absence last season.

    From Andrew, on Thu 4 Dec 1:19AM

  15. Hey guys........I'm a Chelsea fan but ManU were­ good on the night.........i just wonder if it will lead­ to their own downfall in the league........i mean­ Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea do not have to play­ these extra matches and United in addition to their­ busy schedule play 2 more matches in the League­ cup......well well........i dont see how Fergie will­ not whine abt this..........nvm........im no spoil­ sport........good to see Tevez again...........he is­ way better than Rooney..........i think Tevez and­ Berbatov should play and not Rooney.........u can flag­ this if u want but if ManU end up in the League Cup­ final.........they will be playing 3 games lesser than­ the other big four.......lets see how they­ cope.......so that means they will roughly be 12 points­ behind Chelsea and Liverpool by January end.......and i­ know how difficult it is to chase once ur­ behind........all the best......

    From Rushad, on Thu 4 Dec 1:18AM

  16. nice one carlos...time to sign on the dotted line...!

    From stuartxland, on Thu 4 Dec 1:00AM

  17. yeah id rather tevez up front than berba, i was prayin­ for tev to chin up and put a performance in like this,­ he was absolutely devastating, but he needs to be­ playing week in week out to stay confidant, its the­ same with all Argentinians,and there's nothing­ wrong wit that its just the way they are, i like berba­ but i like tevez more, fergie does have to play­ berbatov for a while at least after all the hullabaloo­ and money spent..

    From flinto, on Thu 4 Dec 12:32AM

  18. tevez is much better than berbatov, he just proved­ that. man u will regret if he slip to the likes of real­ next summer..

    From carlamms, on Thu 4 Dec 12:14AM

  19. Fergie is only trying to justify the money he wasted in­ Berbetov. Tervez of course is a better player, even­ better than the overrated Wayne (appologies to him­ loyals). But that serves him right, cos I remember Juan­ Veron warning him that he would be wasted at United. He­ should be wise and go where he would be appreciated.­ "Better to rule in hell than to serve in­ heaven", init?. Don't quote me please.

    From Valentine, on Thu 4 Dec 12:14AM

  20. Allen H you must be having a laugh, fergie makes 10­ changes to the side from the weekend and you call that­ taking the cup seriously. I am a life long man u fan­ and would love nothing more than to slate wenger but he­ didn't do anything wrong, his young lads just had a­ bad night and ours got the job done. End Of!

    From untouchable_44, on Thu 4 Dec 12:11AM
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