Blackburn Miss Out On League Cup Final

The League Cup final will unfortunately not an all-Aussie feel to it, after Blackburn Rovers were beaten 2-1 in the second leg of their tie with Manchester United at Old Trafford, to bow out 3-2 on aggregate.

The League Cup final will unfortunately not an all-Aussie feel to it, after Blackburn Rovers were beaten 2-1 in the second leg of their tie with Manchester United at Old Trafford, to bow out 3-2 on aggregate.

With Wigan Athletic winning through to the final the previous day, Blackburn-s Aussie pair of Lucas Neill (pictured right tussling with Louis Saha) and Brett Emerton were hoping to join John Filan and Josip Skoko in the final, which would have given the match a real Aussie feel.

However a volley from French striker Louis Saha, earned Manchester a 2-1 win in what was a fiercely contested match that threatened to boil over at times. United will face Wigan Athletic in the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on February 26.

Neill played a full game for Blackburn and received a yellow card, while Emerton came off the bench with 15 minutes remaining, as they frantically looked for an equalising goal that would have seen Blackburn win on the away goals rule.

United took an early eighth minute lead through Dutch international striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, but Blackburn were level in the 32nd minute from a Steven Reid strike, which came against the run of play.

Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel did his bit to keep Blackburn in the game, with some outstanding saves including a 43-minute penalty by van Nistelrooy.

However there was nothing he could do to keep out Saha-s volley after 53 minutes.