Twitter Reacts to Wembley-Bound Liverpool's FA Cup Victory over Blackburn

Few Lancashire residents would argue that Blackburn is a place renowned for glitz and glamour, but Ewood Park was sprinkled with the magic of the FA Cup on Wednesday evening. The Championship side were aiming to defeat Liverpool in the quarter-final replay, much like they did in their 1990s pomp. Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, was looking to get a step closer to bringing his first trophy to Anfield. 

Steven Gerrard wasn't involved in the proceedings at Ewood Park, but the narrative of his final game with Liverpool being the FA Cup final on his birthday loomed over this tie. Apparently, many would have preferred that Stevie G's last game for the Reds was at Stoke instead...

Prior to kick-off, many seemed surprised by Rodgers' apparent decision to start with a back four...

Kolo Toure was also left out, presumably because of his performance against Arsenal...

As the game kicked off, however, Toure's exclusion didn't produce as much banter as Glen Johnson's inclusion...

"

Glen Johnson pic.twitter.com/W2Ja3RyYOD

— Jen (@jennybean_) April 8, 2015"

"

When Glen Johnson starts pic.twitter.com/sRcZFDvu4w

— Sean Clarke (@SeanClarkeLFC) April 8, 2015"

Liverpool applied plenty of pressure from the outset, and in the first five minutes, Joe Allen was gifted an excellent chance to put the visitors ahead, but he dragged it wide. After some performances this season, Allen has been praised to the hilt, but this did not appear to be one of those occasions...

"

Barber: What do you want? Guy: I want vision like Joe Allen Barber: No worries fam pic.twitter.com/2AtJnuhwmy

— . (@ItCouldGetMessi) April 8, 2015"

"

Anytime I see Joe Allen in the first 11... pic.twitter.com/mJWAzzkyeW

— Raheem £terling (@Takingbackcider) April 8, 2015"

Just before the half-hour mark, Mamadou Sakho was forced off through injury, making way for the aforementioned Toure...

Liverpool's defensive woes seemed to be good news for one man...

Speaking of players with injuries, Michael Owen was attracting a typical amount of attention for his commentating skills on BT Sport as the game headed towards half-time...

"

RT if you think some of this would make Michael Owen a much better commentator pic.twitter.com/ILY8p0mYcw

— Football Tips (@footballtips) April 8, 2015"

"

When Michael Owen commentates pic.twitter.com/3NcCULYQbp

— Tim Gallagher (@TimGallagher93) April 8, 2015"

"

Michael owen could put a glass eye to sleep.

— Daniel Tuohy (@dan_tuohy) April 8, 2015"

Over the half-time break, the consensus was that this replay was equally as entertaining as the stalemate that led to it...

Blackburn responded to the boredom feedback by coming out swinging in the second half. Simon Mignolet had to produce two fine saves to keep Tom Cairney and Ben Marshall from breaking the deadlock...

"

Blackburn wakes up and goes "oh...look at that defense...HA" in the second half. #LFC

— Kev (@KevHegarty) April 8, 2015"

Just past the hour mark, Gary Bowyer attempted to go for the jugular by introducing prolific striker Rudy Gestede. The Frenchman immediately roused the team and struck panic into the hearts of Liverpool fans...

"

Gestede pic.twitter.com/j0pwUsxhU5

— slytherin distin (@brownie09lfc) April 8, 2015"

"

Gestede has already caused more problems in 2 minutes, than the entire Rovers team this game.

— Dharma (@Rodgerholic) April 8, 2015"

Bowyer's attacking strategy, however, had a detrimental effect. Within 10 minutes Liverpool had won a corner, which Philippe Coutinho took. The Brazilian eventually got himself in a position to shoot and opened the scoring with a classy finish with the outside of his boot...

"

Gran gol de Coutinho! Blackburn 0-1 Liverpool, #FACup http://t.co/azjFDu26Rh

— Raúl Rueda (@ruedagarcia2001) April 8, 2015"

"

How can sterling want 150k when coutinho is on 70k and out performs sterling every game

— mattheus (@MattyTaylorx) April 8, 2015"

Blackburn had a few valiant attempts at getting back into the tie—including a heart-in-mouth injury-time moment when goalkeeper Simon Eastwood came up and forced a good save from Mignolet—but Coutinho's strike ultimately earned Liverpool a match at Wembley against Aston Villa...

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