As the dust quickly settled at the end of a forgettable afternoon at Anfield, the biggest talking-point was the timing of the replay that this FA Cup quarter-final will now need. Finding a date that satisfies both clubs will prove a tricky challenge for the FA, but there is no doubt which team will be happier when they meet again at Ewood Park.
Financially, Blackburn will welcome a replay. Competitively, they will regard it as an opportunity to finish off a Liverpool team who barely threatened all afternoon to find a way through their defence. So much of the talk during Liverpool’s FA Cup run has been about the possibility of Steven Gerrard’s team-mates earning him a swansong at Wembley before he departs for LA Galaxy, but this was one occasion when, contrary to recent form, they laboured unconvincingly without him.
With Uefa eager to keep Champions League weeks free of domestic football and with an international break to follow at the end of March, the timing of the replay is likely to fall either between Liverpool’s matches against Swansea City on March 16 and Manchester United six days later or on April 7 or 8, which would leave little time for arrangements before the semi-finals at Wembley on the weekend of April 18 and 19.
Either way, Blackburn more than merit a second chance. Gary Bowyer’s team were the better team for half an hour, with Rudy Gestede a dominant figure up front, and then defended valiantly thereafter. Matt Kilgallon and Alex Baptiste were resilient in central defence.
Right from the start, Gestede proved a handful for the Liverpool defence. It was his challenge for a high ball, with his left arm flailing, that led Skrtel to land awkwardly in the third minute. After an eight-minute stoppage, in which the Liverpool defender was assessed and treated, Kolo Toure replaced Skrtel, who held his arms out, thumbs extended, from the stretcher as if to reassure Liverpool’s supporters that he was OK.
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The loss of Skrtel deprived Liverpool of their most aggressive, dominant defender against opponents who, with Gestede up front, already had a way to make life difficult for them. Gestede beat Simon Mignolet to a high ball from Tom Cairney’s free kick and then produced an intelligent flick to release Ben Marshall, who was denied a clear run on goal by Toure’s excellent tackle.
Midway through the first half Ben Marshall dispossessed Raheem Sterling and produced a dangerous cross, from which Glen Johnson, under pressure from Gestede, chested the ball narrowly wide of his own goal. Then came a real chance after a move involving Marcus Olsson and Cairney, whose pass was dummied by Gestede into the path of Conway, who snatched at his shot and missed the target.
Blackburn were the better team in the opening period, competing more aggressively in midfield and counter-attacking with menace. Liverpool were off-colour. Their only real threats of the first half came when Matt Kilgallon’s clearance bounced off Lee Williamson and flew just wide of Simon Eastwood’s goal and in stoppage time, when Sterling’s pass enabled Daniel Sturridge to turn sharply and force the Blackburn goalkeeper into a smart save.
Blackburn almost took the lead early in the second half, but Baptiste’s header, from Conway’s corner, was saved impressively by Mignolet. That was as good as it got for Bowyer’s team in an attacking sense, but he will have been delighted by the way they defended during the final 40 minutes of the game, when the pressure on their goal – or at least their penalty area – intensified.
Liverpool had a couple of penalty appeals, both of them far from irrefutable, but Brendan Rodgers will be disappointed by how little they created as Blackburn retreated in the closing stages. Sturridge had a decent effort blocked by the excellent Baptiste, while Jordan Henderson forced Eastwood into a good reaction save from close range, but overall Liverpool were flat. Their final chance fell to Sterling, who headed wide from Johnson’s cross.
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Blackburn’s supporters celebrated joyously at the final whistle. Liverpool will hope to finish the job the hard way, as they did after being held at home by Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round, but, for all the talk of Gerrard and destiny, this FA Cup run of theirs is becoming an arduous slog. Next stop Ewood Park, when Blackburn will believe home advantage can take them to Wembley.