A denied penalty, several missed chances and a late Blackburn goal knocks us out of the FA.
Damn. Having suffered the difficult to swallow defeat in the Carling Cup final on Sunday, this FA Cup fifth-round replay was a perfect opportunity to bounce back, but instead we are again left to dwell on missed chances and what could have been.
Having said that, Graham Poll struck again, rejecting two first-half penalty appeals, while Baptista missed with a header and had a couple of shots saved.
Benni McCarthy’s winner was a devastating blow in the 87th minute, breaking in from the wing past Senderos and powering in his shot but we had our chances and again Friedel's goalkeeping keep them in the match, just as he had done in the first match.
Yes, we should have had penalties for both Aliadiere and Ljungberg appeal, with Friedel taking Aliadiere to ground and Emerton basically barging Ljungberg to ground, but it was disappointing to again see us not finish any of the chances we had to score from open play, lacking the clinical finish.
To have beaten Liverpool and so-called ‘bogey’ Bolton, it’s a real sucker punch to go out at this stage to Blackburn.
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