Blackburn booked their place in the Carling Cup quarter-finals with a thrilling 5-2 win over 10-man Peterborough at Ewood Park.
Peterborough initially made life difficult for their hosts as Chris Whelpdale equalised Martin Gamst Pedersen's early opener, but goalkeeper Joe Lewis was sent off just before half-time for clattering Pedersen and Steven Reid slotted home the spot-kick.
Peterborough managed a second equaliser through George Boyd just after half-time, but Rovers soon made the difference in numbers tell with Michel Salgado, Benni McCarthy and a Nicola Kalinic penalty completing a comprehensive 5-2 victory.
Blackburn went ahead after only three minutes. David Hoilett was brought down just outside the box and Pedersen calmly stepped up to rifle the free-kick over Lewis and into the roof of the net.
Peterborough were not disheartened though, and after Boyd had issued a warning with a dangerous free-kick that needed only a glancing header to finish, the visitors drew level with 17 minutes on the clock, Tommy Rowe crossing for Whelpdale to head back across the stranded Brown and in.
Peterborough shot themselves in the foot three minutes before the break when Lewis brought down Pedersen in the area as the Norwegian midfielder raced onto a poor defensive header. Lewis was shown a red card and Reid put the resulting penalty past substitute keeper James McKeown to restore Rovers' lead going into the break.
It seemed a straightforward task for Blackburn from there, yet within five minutes of the restart Peterborough had levelled again and Whelpdale was involved once more, surging forward and squaring the ball to Boyd, who had the time and space to lash a ferocious strike past Jason Brown with his left foot.
The Premier League side soon made amends though as Salgado struck his first goal for the club, the Spaniard getting on the end of a delightfully lofted pass from Brett Emerton in the 57th minute and slipping it in at the near post.
The man advantage was starting to tell and Blackburn scored their fourth with just under 20 minutes remaining when Kalinic capitalised on an error to play in McCarthy for an easy finish.
Kalinic then added a fifth two minutes later, converting confidently from the spot after Martin Olsson's cross was handled.
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Terry, not wanting to put too fine apoint on it?mr ferguson said he wanted a big club?? think he found one!! 5 2 ok were never going to be a big club since Mr Walker unfortunatly left us and we did buy the prem title but so does everyone else. Only the big 4 will continue to fight for the title in the future but a bit of a slight to say he wasnt happy with playing us.
The ref well some you win and some you loose second string? we dont have a first string sometimes?? but dont decry us a 5 2 win it somehow smacks as a bad looser, you can only go out and win the game and thats what we did.
loose gracefully mate thats what we do most weeks!!
stevef
steve f.you got to kidding mate,lets be honest a dodgey sending off,you soaked the pitch(as usual)over zealous tackles that were different apparently to that of ours,in the refs world anyhow,2-1 up against 10 men a homer ref,you got off lightly,at 2-2 11 v 11,your second string are poor,we would have put you out with macca & zaki playing,you cant really believe that you have just become an attacking force in the prem,,,,,,,,WAKE UP MATE THAT SCORE WELL FLATTERED YOU, & why did you ban home supporters,thats worst atmosphere we`ve played in for weeks,you were a poor show mate,PUFC.
Well played rovers albeit against a 10 man side frmm a lower league, you still have to put in the performance, cant belive who scored?? bring on the swine flu every game, even mc duff scored thats unbeliveable!! where was my favorite striker though???
can we continue to attack against man utd please i dont mind loosing 5 0 if we give it a go Sam! theres all the other games after that one to collect some much needed points.
Spammer seen off by my report them in case you were wondering!
Pederson, McCarthy and Kalanic scored!!!!! There may be more to the 'swine flew/pigs might fly' jokes than I thought! Hope it's contagious!
And p**s off spammer and all your pathetic cronies. Hope you end up with your own Grandad!
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