Arsenal beaten by Blackburn late show
McCarthy came off the bench to fire his side to victory
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Wednesday, 28, Feb 2007 10:57
Blackburn left it late to beat Arsenal 1-0 in their FA Cup fifth-round replay and had substitute Benni McCarthy to thank for firing them into the quarter-finals.
McCarthy scored in the 86th minute with a strike which lit up what was otherwise a slow-moving, dour affair at Ewood Park.
Arsenal felt aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty in the first half after Jeremie Aliadiere went down under Brad Friedel's challenge and then Freddie Ljungberg was toppled by Rovers full-back Brett Emerton.
It seemed that the Gunners were right to feel disappointed as replays suggested that Emerton had pulled back the Swede well inside the Blackburn box.
That was the highlight of what was an uninspiring first 45 minutes that made the first game between the pair look good.
The second half was an improvement as both sides gradually committed themselves more to trying to win the game inside 90 minutes.
Julio Baptista headed a good opportunity over the bar after a cross by stand-in full-back Philippe Senderos.
Morten Gamst Pedersen wasted Rovers' best chance - after breaking into the penalty area he failed to find the target from the corner of the six-yard box.
McCarthy was introduced just after the hour mark and he netted a screamer of a winner on 87 minutes just as it looked to be heading for extra time.
The South African ran at Senderos on the left-hand side and then unleashed an unstoppable shot which curled into the far corner.
The Gunners threw everything they had at Rovers in the remaining minutes but the home side's defence stood firm to clinch a sixth-round clash with Manchester City.