SOCCER/Man Utd 1 Blackburn 1: It was first blood to the holders Blackburn here last night in the first leg of the first of the semi-finals as Manchester United, having taken the lead just before the hour, found the visitors level again just after it.
No sooner had Paul Scholes squeezed the ball in at the far post as it slipped from Brad Friedel's grasp than Keith Gillespie crossed from the right and David Thompson headed the equaliser.
The competition has been rattling along with eye-catching eventfulness, making it all the odder that it should insist on placing road blocks on its own route.
At the very least the sudden introduction of a two-legged structure for the semi-finals is a traffic-calming measure. There was no need for devil-take-the-hindmost onslaughts here when the destination of the contest lies a fortnight away at Ewood Park.
The lack of desperation, however, was conducive to entertainment and Blackburn, before the interval, relaxed as they might not have done on, say, a Premiership trip to Old Trafford.
With Tugay so scrupulous in retaining possession in that period it was Graeme Souness's side who slipped around the field more smoothly, even if there was only one true save for either goalkeeper to make.
It had been Blackburn last month who, by collecting full points from a home match with Alex Ferguson's side, showed that United's season may still be problematic even if it has stopped being calamitous.
Despite losing David Dunn to a muscle strain in the 19th minute, the visitors looked convinced that attacking United was good sense rather than foolhardy valour.
When Ryan Giggs, after half an hour, assumed unwisely that he could let the ball roll past him as he prepared to set off on a run he was robbed and Lucas Neill struck a 20-yarder that Fabien Barthez bundled behind for a corner. All the while Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke had a rapacious air about them even if they could not then set up a compelling opportunity.
The more spasmodic United were still predatory on occasion and the hunger of David Beckham and Paul Scholes for a League Cup tie will reassure Ferguson.
His side will have to maintain its hearty appetite if it is to cope with the schedule being heaped on its plate.
Blackburn had a fresh-faced source of enthusiasm. Souness had retained James McEveley, the teenager, in the line-up and, while his left-footed passing was composed, his positioning was, naturally enough, uncertain. However, in the final minute the youngster saved his side from defeat when he blocked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's shot from eight yards with his chest.
His misjudgment, with a late tackle on Beckham, brought a booking just before the interval. Perhaps the incident that so annoyed a crowd who saw the England captain left in heap was stirring. United's play, in any case, was sharpened when, almost immediately, Scholes' header was dummied by Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy ran through for a shot that was placed much too close to Friedel.
United predictably focused their attentions on McEveley in the second half but, while a breakthrough for them was not unexpected, neither was Blackburn's spirited reaction. Beckham surged through on the right to square the ball in the 55th minute and, though van Nistelrooy, under pressure, scooped his shot over the bar, the route remained open.
Three minutes later Beckham once more cut in from that flank and, when Friedel could not deal with the low cross, Scholes ran the ball in.
Blackburn could not be penned in, though, and it was hardly a shock, after 61 minutes, when Gillespie, the former United winger, crossed for Thompson to stoop and head, with deliberation, into the corner of the net. The scorer, seemingly injured, was soon replaced but he had done his work and United had to raise their pace as they sought to undo it.
Souness was disappointed his side had not come away with a victory.
"We played well and it would have been unfair not to have taken something from the game. I thought we coped with what they threw at us very well, we kept the ball quite well on a difficult pitch against a very good team.
"I am a wee bit disappointed but we've kept the tie alive," he said.
Guardian Service
MANCHESTER UNITED: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre, Beckham, Veron, Phil Neville (Forlan 82), Giggs (Solskjaer 74), Scholes, van Nistelrooy. Subs Not Used: Ricardo, Blanc, O'Shea. Booked: Phil Neville. Goals: Scholes 58.
BLACKBURN ROVERS: Friedel, Neill, Taylor, Todd, McEveley, Thompson (Jansen 66), Tugay, Flitcroft, Dunn (Gillespie 19), Cole, Yorke. Subs Not Used: Kelly, Ostenstad, Johansson. Booked: McEveley, Neill. Goals: Thompson 61.
Referee: U Rennie (S Yorkshire)
