Philippe Coutinho's goal has once again proved the difference for Liverpool as they overcame Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at Ewood Park to book their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
The Brazilian, who also struck the decisive goal against Bolton Wanderers in the last round, found a way through to finally break down a resilient Rovers side 19 minutes from time.
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The visitors made a positive start to the contest, with Raheem Sterling coming close to finding a way through with his well-struck attempt, just moments after Joe Allen saw his volley end wide of the target.
Blackburn began to see more of the ball as the first half wore on, and they could very well have taken the lead when some sloppy play by Mamadou Sakho allowed Craig Conway to steal possession, although the Reds defender recovered in time to produce a solid block.
Daniel Sturridge, back in the Liverpool starting lineup this evening following his recent absence, then managed to work a few yards of space on the edge of the area to get a shot away, which deflected narrowly over the bar.
Sakho was clearly struggling with injury in the opening quarter of the game, which almost proved costly when Jordan Rhodes headed wide from a cross with the visitors temporarily down to 10 men, shortly before the Frenchman was withdrawn.
Liverpool would have taken a lead into the interval if not for a string of saves from Simon Eastwood, who denied both Glenn Johnson and Sturridge with two admittedly tame stops, before keeping out Coutinho's attempt after the Brazilian found the ball at his feet inside the area.
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Eventual match-winner Coutinho was involved again a few minutes later, picking out Johnson before seeing the ball returned to him just outside the opposition box, but he failed to make the desired contact with his shot.
Like their opponents in the first half, Blackburn made a real go of things right from the off after the restart, as Tom Cairney forced Simon Mignolet into palming the ball away, while Ben Marshall came even closer from the resulting corner by heading a powerful shot which the Belgian stopper this time turned onto the post.
The Reds, who last lifted this trophy back in 2006, soon wrestled back momentum, although it was Rovers who again came closest to making the breakthrough when Corry Evans's long-ranger was handled well by Mignolet.
Sixteen-goal striker Rudy Gestede was brought off the bench with 25 minutes left to play, and he made an immediate impact by getting the better of Dejan Lovren and poking through to strike-partner Rhodes, who subsequently saw his effort blocked away by another substitute in Kolo Toure.
The tie's decisive moment followed soon after courtesy of Coutinho's powerful effort, which came at the second time of asking after his initial cross had come back out to him, and a quick one-two with Jordan Henderson later he was able to fire away from a tight angle.
Sturridge should have wrapped things up on the 76-minute mark when picked out by Sterling, although he put a little too much on his chipped attempt which ended over the bar.
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Rickie Lambert came off the bench and, like the man he replaced in Sturridge, should have added a second when picked out inside the box.
Liverpool were then denied a penalty late on when Allen was shoved off the ball inside the area, and it almost proved a big moment as Eastwood, up for a late set-piece attack, pounced on the ball and turned it towards goalwards, only for Mignolet to keep it out to deny a dramatic late twist to what was a tense affair in Lancashire.
The Reds will now face Aston Villa in the semi-final of the competition later this month.
Daniel Lewis
