Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Championship side Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup this afternoon.
Last year's beaten finalists took the lead right on the stroke of half time through Alvaro Negredo before Blackburn skipper Scott Dann drew Rovers level 10 minutes after the interval.
Dedryck Boyata was sent off for two yellow cards in the closing stages as City had to settle for a draw and a replay against the Championship side a week on Wednesday.
Match statistics:
Blackburn:
Shots 12
On target 3
Possession 30%
Corners 6
Fouls 6
City:
Shots 14
On target 5
Possession 70%
Corners 8
Fouls 7
Was the result fair?
Definitely. Blackburn were expected to be slaughtered by City's free-flowing attack but the visitors never really got going and Blackburn at least deserved a replay.
Blackburn's performance
As mentioned, Rovers kept City's attack relatively quiet and threatened in patches in the second half. Manager Gary Bowyer couldn't have wished for much more, to be honest, as City's superstars were frustrated by the lesser names in blue and white. Bowyer's odd decision to bench top scorer Jordan Rhodes didn't end up costing the hosts too much but who knows what they might have done if he had started instead of coming on for 10 minutes at the end?
City's performance
Manuel Pellegrini will have really wanted to avoid a replay as City's schedule is already jam-packed. Despite making seven changes, Pellegrini still named a side brimming with talent but they just didn't really show up. It wasn't even like returning Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson had plenty of saves to make. The Rovers goal was completely avoidable as well. Rudy Gestede headed straight at Costel Pantilimon but he somehow failed to catch the ball and it dropped kindly for Dann who couldn't miss.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Tom Cairney: The 22-year-old had been on loan with Blackburn for the first half of the season and completed a permanent move to Ewood Park just two days ago. Today he looked at ease in the middle of the park and regularly escaped the clutches of Fernandinho and Javi Garcia and passed the ball around nicely.
Biggest gaffe
Negredo may have scored City's goal but he also blew a big chance for City by heading wide of an open goal after Robinson had parried a Dzeko shot.
Referee performance
Michael Oliver didn't have a great game today. He rightly sent off Boyata for two bookable offences but made a number of mistakes. In the first half he somehow failed to award City two obvious corners and also waved away two or three penalty shouts. One, in particular, stood out as Pantilimon came out to beat Joshua King to the ball and went in with his foot raised so high. If an outfield player made that challenge in the middle of the park it would have been red.
What next?
Blackburn: Next up for Bowyer's side is another home game against Doncaster Rovers in the Championship before they travel to the Etihad in 12 days' time.
City: The games just keep on coming for City. Today's game was their fifth in 15 days and they now have three more in the next 12 days. First is the League Cup semi-final against West Ham United on Wednesday before a trip to Newcastle in the league ahead of the replay against Blackburn.
Pascal Lemesre
