Scoring spree as United defeat Blackburn in Carling Cup

Manchester United powered into the semifinals of the Carling Cup on Thursday night, defeating Blackburn Rovers 5-3 in a goal-fest at Old Trafford.

The star of the show was United’s Carlos Tevez, who answered his critics with a stunning 4 goal haul that included both the first and final goals of the match. Blackburn Rovers did well to challenge the Manchester United defence, pulling back 3 goals.

South African forward Benni McCarthy was the pick of Blackburn’s players and scored twice for his club after coming into the game off the bench. Matt Derbyshire scored Blackburn’s third goal, and the match looked headed for a thrilling finale before Tevez sealed a United win with his final goal.

The win illustrated Manchester United’s strength in depth, with the second-string side producing one of United’s more impressive performances this season.

“Now we’re in the semi-final that’s two extra games of course and getting fixtures and getting dates for those games is going to be difficult because we’ve got to find dates for Fulham and for Wigan and it’s not going to be easy,” Sir Alex Ferguson told the AFP after the match.

“The one good thing is that we’ve got a big strong squad, I won’t be letting anyone else out on loan and I want to keep everyone together because I’m going to need them.”