Ibrahimovic to the rescue for United
Favourites bring out the big guns to dispatch weaker opponents and move on to quarter-finals
LONDON — Manchester United turned to Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to save the day and eliminate second-tier Blackburn in the FA Cup on Sunday.
The duo came off the bench with around 30 minutes remaining at Ewood Park and combined to complete United’s comeback. Ibrahimovic ran onto Pogba’s long, high pass and scored to clinch a 2-1 victory and a spot in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, a day after three Premier League teams endured difficulties against lower-league opposition in the fifth round, Tottenham was taking no risks at Fulham. The north London club started Harry Kane and its top scorer delivered, netting a hat trick as Fulham was swept aside 3-0.
Man United 2, Blackburn 1
United, the record 20-time English league champions, trailed for 10 minutes in the first half at the home of the 1995 Premier League champions, who have been out of the topflight since 2012.
On a rare start for Jose Mourinho’s side, Marcus Rashford scored to cancelled out Danny Graham’s opener for the hosts. The striker was played through by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and he ghosted past goalkeeper Jason Steele before slotting into an unguarded net in the 27th minute.
It took until the 75th minute for United to count the winner. Pogba sent the ball over the Blackburn defence for the 35-year-old Ibrahimovic, who netted his 24th goal of his first season at United.
Tottenham 3, Fulham 0
While the FA Cup is now regularly used by top-flight teams to rest leading players, Kane’s appearance at Craven Cottage was a sign of Tottenham’s lack of options up front and the desire to avoid a third successive loss.
Defeats in the Premier League and Europa League prompted manager Mauricio Pochettino to gather his players for meetings to dissect the difficulties.
“The reaction was fantastic,” Pochettino said. “It was a great opportunity to show we are alive, to change the feeling after two defeats ... and this was a big boost of confidence.”
Especially for Kane, who had only scored once in five games before facing an inviting Fulham defence.
Fulham, which was relegated from the Premier League in 2014, was caught out by Tottenham’s speedy move down the right flank for the 16th-minute opener. Christian Eriksen delivered a cross to Kane, who nudged the ball over the line.
Six minutes after the break, Kane evaded U.S defender Tim Ream, in front of national team coach Bruce Arena, to meet another cross from Eriksen and put the ball between goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli’s legs.
Dele Alli set up Kane’s third with a through-ball in the 73rd minute that the England striker fired past Bettinelli.