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A stoppage time equaliser from Christopher Samba rescued a replay for Blackburn after their FA Cup fifth round tie against Coventry ended 2-2 at Ewood Park.

Rovers took the lead in only the second minute after Roque Santa Cruz latched on to Samba's flick-on and drove his shot clinically into the far corner.

But the Sky Blues launched a fearless second half comeback, with manager Chris Coleman introducing Leon Best to further bolster his forward line, and his tactics were rewarded.

Aron Gunnarssson unleashed a stunning volley from 25 yards to comprehensively beat Paul Robinson and equalise after 61 minutes.

Michael Doyle's 76th minute volley then deflected fortuitously off Samba and looped over Robinson into the net to send the raucous travelling fans into delirium.

But as Rovers rallied in the dying minutes, Coventry failed to clear one of a multitude of goalmouth scrambles, with the opportunist Samba grabbing a last gasp equaliser to keep his side in the Cup.

Despite the visitors' courageous efforts, Sam Allardyce's side will feel vindicated in securing a replay after having goals from Gael Givet and Benni McCarthy disallowed by referee Peter Walton.

Coleman was forced into a late change after Keiren Westwood sustained an injury in the warm-up, and replacement Andy Marshall's first action was to pick the ball out of his net.

Santa Cruz latched on to Samba's flick on from Robinson's mighty long ball, before hammering home on the volley from the left of the penalty area.

The Paraguayan's clinical finish vindicated Allardyce's decision to confine leading scorer McCarthy to the bench.

Jordan Henderson had a good opportunity to equalise in the 13th minute after the youngster was picked out by Doyle in space down the right, but the 18-year-old dragged his shot wide of Robinson's far post.

A glorious chance was then squandered by Jason Roberts after Santa Cruz headed on to his partner, who precisely lobbed the ball over the head of James McPake, before slicing horribly wide from ten yards.

Gunnarsson thought it was not his day after heading horribly wide from close range, meeting Daniel Fox's whipped free-kick, a squandered chance which he would later atone for in style.

Santa Cruz almost doubled his tally for the afternoon just before the break, but for a poor first touch, as he collected David Dunn's through ball, but from the subsequently tight angle, could only find the side netting.

Clinton Morrison believed he had won a penalty on the hour mark after he was seemingly tugged to the floor by Zurab Khizanishvili, but Walton was unimpressed.

A sensational 15 minutes from the visitors turned the match on its head, with Gunnarsson redeeming himself with his emphatic strike, then Doyle's deflected strike.

Blackburn looked beaten, despite Givet's glancing header beating Marshall, but ruled out for shirt-pulling, while substitute McCarthy's strike was adjudged offside.

The enigmatic Freddy Eastwood stole in behind the Blackburn defence before squaring to Morrison in the dying minutes, but the forward's dive agonisingly failed to connect with the ball to end the contest.

And when Coventry's weary defence failed to deal with a final flurry of pressure in their box, Samba capitalised to rescue his side and set up a replay at the Ricoh Arena.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport