Blackburn Rovers vs Manchester United, 1st Leg
Final score
Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United drew 1-1 in 1st Leg on Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at Ewood Park. Goals for Blackburn: Morten Pedersen (35'). Goals for Man United: Louis Saha (30').
Play by play
- 92'
FULL-TIME: United fail to break down Rovers after dominating the second half, and both sides will enter the second leg at Old Trafford with hopes of progressing to the final.
- 91'
SHOT! Neill fires a left-foot shot high and wide after cutting in from the right flank.
- 90'
Dickov is miffed after a free-kick decision goes against him. Seconds later, the substitute is harshly booked for a tackle on Neville.
- 89'
Neville brings down Grey after the full-back had made a good tackle to halt Ronaldo in his stride.
- 88'
O'Shea is booked for a slight tug on Reid as the Blackburn man broke up field after halting a United attack on the edge of his own penalty area.
- 87'
Good defending at the back post by Grey as he nods clear Giggs' dangerous cross.
- 86'
Savage angers Smith and Ronaldo after keeping hold of the ball following the awarding of a United free-kick.
- 85'
Bellamy has a shot from the edge of the penalty area blocked by Brown in Blackburn's first attack for about half-an-hour.
- 84'
BLACKBURN SUB: Dickov comes on for Kuqi. Kuqi offers Rovers a real physical presence up front, but he has barely had a touch since the break.
- 83'
UNITED SUB: Fletcher is replaced by O'Shea. The Irishman will slot in to centre-midfield for the final 10 minutes or so.
- 82'
Although they have offered absolutely nothing going forward, Blackburn have at least defended very well in the second half. Friedel hasn't really had a tough save to make since the break.
- 81'
UNITED SUB: Van Nistelrooy replaces Saha. An attacking change from Ferguson as he sends on his most lethal finisher to try and snatch a late goal.
- 80'
Rooney meets Fletcher's deep cross, but from 16 yards or so, he can't direct his header on target and Friedel is able to watch it drift wide of the far post.
- 78'
United are preparing to send on Van Nistelrooy for the final few minutes. Will he make the difference? Who knows?
- 77'
United will be disappointed if they fail to get a second goal here; they have dominated possession in the second half, although they have failed to creat any decent chances to speak of.
- 76'
Nelsen shows good strength and awareness to hold off Saha as the United striker tried to get on the end of Rooney's chip over the top.
- 75'
BLACKBURN SUBS: Bentley and Tugay are replaced by Reid and Emerton. Hughes opts to inject some energy and fresh legs in his midfield.
- 74'
Neill does well as he calmly nods Ronaldo's cross back to Freidel, with Giggs flying in behind him at the back post.
- 73'
Blackburn look to be ready to make a couple of changes. United, meanwhile, are still down to ten men, with Smith still receiving treatment on the gash on his head.
- 72'
BLOCK! Giggs runs past a couple of Blackburn challenges before cutting the ball back to the edge of the area. Rooney meets it with a fearsome shot, but his effort strikes Saha on the penalty spot and the ball rebounds clear.
- 71'
Smith suffers quite a bad cut to the head after he challenged Friedel for a high ball inside the penalty area. He is taken off the field for some treatment.
- 70'
Giggs' skill and determination win United a corner as he chases down Ronaldo's over-hit cross and plays the ball out off the legs of Neill.
- 69'
Saha is booked for kicking the ball away after a tight off-side decision goes against him.
- 68'
Although United have dominated the second half, they haven't created any real chances and Blackburn have looked fairly comfortable in defence.
- 67'
Rooney finds Neville with a good pass out to the right wing, but the United captain's cross is sliced and flies over Freidel's crossbar.