Pedersen ends Clarets' bid
Morten Gamst Pedersen's late goal handed Blackburn a quarter-final clash with Leicester after a tense 2-1 win over neighbours Burnley.
The Norwegian struck five minutes from time to take the shine off one of the goals of the season from Burnley's Micah Hyde.
Hyde's goal, a flick and curled volley into the top corner, was reminiscent of Justin Fashanu's for Norwich against Liverpool in the 1980s that became a perennial Match of the Day favourite.
It would have deserved to win any game but Pedersen again showed what a flowering talent he is. Tugay had earlier given Rovers the lead with a deflected shot - off Hyde - in the first half.
From the very first minute this looked as though it was going to be a tense and hard-fought affair, something Robbie Savage did little to dispel after his late tackle left Tony Grant writhing on the floor.
Burnley showed they would not be muscled out of it with a couple of meaty challenges themselves before Blackburn had a half-decent chance to take an early lead. Lucas Neill delivered a slanting ball from the right and Pedersen met it on the volley, but could not keep it down.
There was finally a glimpse of an opening for the Clarets after 20 minutes when John Oster used a nifty corner routine to trick his way past Savage and aimed inside the near post, but Aaron Mokoena managed to deflect the shot behind the goal.
Paul Dickov gave his marker Gary Cahill a torrid time and after again turning him shot low, but it lacked the power to trouble Brian Jensen.
On the half-hour Blackburn's pressure told. Burnley struggled to clear Savage's free-kick, Brett Emerton's volley was well blocked but the ball rebounded to Tugay 30 yards out. The Turkish midfielder took one touch before firing in a low drive which took a cruel deflection off Hyde on its way into the net, with Jensen completely wrong-footed.
Three minutes before half-time, however, Hyde made amends, and with one of the best goals that will be scored in the FA Cup this season.
When he picked the ball up from a throw-in on the right-hand corner of the area, nothing looked on at all. The former Watford midfielder then flicked the ball up before volleying an absolute peach of a shot over the leaping Brad Friedel and into the top corner.
Savage did not appear for the second half, his nagging groin strain having got the better of him, but within a minute of the restart Nelsen brought a great reaction save out of Jensen after getting his head to Pedersen's whipped-in cross.
Moore had a good shot on the turn as Burnley tried to counter but could not find the target, then Emerton's shot at the other end was blocked by his own player.
Pedersen's delivery at set-pieces was proving a problem for the visitors and Nelsen made contact with another corner, this time heading down so powerfully that it bounced up and over the crossbar.
Jay Bothroyd came off the bench for Paul Gallagher to beef up the Blackburn attack and he wormed into a good position, but the finish did not match up to his first touch and he pulled it wide.
The match was much more evenly balanced in the second half as Jean-Louis Valois began to make an impact for Burnley on the left wing. It was one of his runs that led to Grant letting fly from 20 yards but again Mokoena was in the way.
Bothroyd only lasted nine minutes before hobbling off and Steven Reid's
arrival pushed Pedersen up front.
With five minutes and extra-time apparently beckoning, Pedersen made the breakthrough with a thunderous strike.
Sinclair initially cut out the Norwegian's cross but Pedersen took advantage of a moment's hesitation by Mo Camara and seized on the loose ball before crashing in a shot that beat Jensen  |