West Ham romp into FA Cup quarter-finals after crushing Blackburn 5-1
Hammers run riot after Rovers’ Chris Taylor is sent off for a second yellow on 55 minutes
West Ham United eased into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 5-1 romp at second-tier Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
The Londoners were given an early jolt when Ben Marshall’s low shot put Rovers ahead but they responded in emphatic fashion with goals from Victor Moses and Dimitri Payet before half-time and a brace from Emmanuel Emenike and another classy Payet effort after the break.
“I think [West Ham] can do it. Absolutely. They’ve got momentum at the minute and you wouldn’t put it past them
Nigerian Emenike could have claimed a hat-trick late on when he slammed a shot against the post after some nifty footwork.
Both sides ended with 10 men with Blackburn losing Chris Taylor for a second yellow card after a trip on Moses and the Hammers having to do without Cheikhou Kouyate for the closing stages after he was shown a straight red for tripping Adam Henley.
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“The other teams involved think like that as well,” he said.
“We have players to come in, like Andy Carroll. You also see the options we had off the bench today. It was a tough first 25 minutes. But when we got hold of he game we, got back in it with a couple of bits of magic.”
Blackburn boss Paul Lambert told Match of the Day: “I think [West Ham] can do it. Absolutely. They’ve got momentum at the minute and you wouldn’t put it past them.”
In a later game, Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the Cup by London rivals Crystal Palace 1-0, with big defender Martin Kelly scoring right on half-time.
It was Palace’s first win at White Hart Lane since 1997.
