Manchester United...3 Blackburn Rovers...1English League Cup: Paul Scholes is in a delirious phase where nothing can block his path and here last night he cleared Manchester United's route to the League Cup final, in which they will face Liverpool on March 2nd.
Blackburn Rovers' early lead in this semi-final second leg was tossed aside by the midfielder as, with two goals in 12 minutes, he scored for a sixth successive match. Ruud van Nistelrooy sealed the victory on 77 minutes when he bounded on to David Beckham's pass before being brought down by Brad Friedel. The goalkeeper, let off with a booking, stayed on the pitch but could not reach the penalty.
Were it not for Scholes's searing form, however, this game could have remained under the sway of Andy Cole, his old team-mate, and of the League Cup holders.
Rovers are a side of greater distinction than a mundane position in the Premiership table would suggest and the presence of Cole on the payroll points to their aspirations. His opening goal against his former employers could be termed an act of revenge, but it is more accurate to say that a forward who roots out so many chances was bound to snap one up in a match with United sooner or later.
He has been at Ewood Park since the autumn of 2001 and he will have come to appreciate there are players on the Blackburn staff to pamper him with opportunities. Tugay lavished some remarkable passes on him as United, too proud and positive to bother with precautions, left the Turk unattended to get on with his scheming.
After 12 minutes, David Thompson crossed and Wes Brown's header carried to Tugay, 30 yards out. The midfielder immediately slipped the ball behind the back four and Cole had lifted a shot over the advancing Fabien Barthez before Brown could get close enough to harass him.
Although Blackburn had defeated Alex Ferguson's side 1-0 in the Premiership last month, they would never have supposed a slender advantage could be trusted to bear the weight of their ambitions.
Even before his goals, Scholes shimmered with menace as he linked with Ryan Giggs and van Nistelrooy, the partnership in attack. There were obvious avenues, too, down which United could aim their talents. Jay McEveley (17), has been feted with rightful praise for his confidence when in possession, but United simply bore in mind that he is an inexperienced full back who receives too little cover.
Beckham and Gary Neville ganged up on him and when the latter's cut-back ran to Roy Keane only a deflection off Garry Flitcroft stopped the captain's shot from hitting the net. By the 30th minute there was no good fortune left in Blackburn's reservoir and the equaliser showed Scholes's reactions to be so sharp he is not caught out by even his own mistakes. When Neville again delivered, he first miscontrolled the cross and then, without hesitation, chased the loose ball and fired it into the net.
This was a period of turmoil for Blackburn, with the disruption accentuated by the need to bring on Keith Gillespie for Damien Duff, who seemed to suffer a recurrence of his hamstring strain.
Three minutes from the interval, Neville sprinted clear of McEveley and his delivery was fired home by Scholes. The direction of the match may have been reversed, but the contest had moved off in a familiar direction.
In the 49th minute Giggs, set up by Sebastian Veron, looked as if he had extended the advantage until Brad Friedel shot out an arm to block the attempted low finish. In the 61st minute Cole rose to a Thompson free-kick and ought to have achieved better direction on a header that was at a convenient height for Barthez to thrust the ball away.
United, all the same, had been much too good to depend purely on a former colleague's leniency.
BLACKBURN: Friedel, Neill, Todd, Taylor, McEveley, Thompson, Flitcroft, Tugay, Duff (Gillespie 34), Cole, Yorke. Subs Not Used: Short, Jansen, Ostenstad, Robinson. Booked: Friedel, Thompson. Goals: Cole 12.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Beckham, Veron, Keane, Giggs, Scholes (Butt 79), van Nistelrooy (Forlan 84). Subs Not Used: Phil Neville, O'Shea, Ricardo. Goals: Scholes 30, 42, van Nistelrooy 77 pen.
Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).
Man Utd win 4-2 on aggregate
