Rovers saw their Carabao Cup journey ended in the Fourth Round, after serial summer spenders, Nottingham Forest, who were backed by 6,500 supporters, brushed Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men rotated team aside at a freezing cold Ewood Park.
With Rovers and the boss focussing on their lofty league position, the cup gave a rare opportunity for fringe and youth players to showcase their talents, as Jon Dahl Tomasson made 11 changes from Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Norwich City, at Carrow Road. Aynsley Pears stood behind a back four of Lewis Travis, Ashley Phillips, Scott Wharton and Clinton Mola. The midfield duo of Adam Wharton and Jake Garrett supplemented Ryan Hedges, Sam Szmodics and Dilan Markanday, as George Hirst led the line.
After kick-off was delayed for 15 minutes due to traffic around Ewood Park, Robert Jones was soon ready to get the game underway at 8pm, as Sam Szmodics got the ball rolling for the Blues, who were hoping to try and claim their second successive Premier League scalp enroute to their first League Cup Quarter Final since 2011.
Despite a bright start from Rovers, it was Forest who threatened early on, as after six minutes, Brennan Johnson, fresh from the World Cup with Wales, tested Pears but the former Middlesbrough goalkeeper did well to deny the attacker with his feet.
The Rovers shot-stopper was called into action three minutes later to deny £17m forward, Taiwo Awoniyi, with the goalkeeper rushing off his line at the precise moment to block the Nigerian’s effort.
Rovers’ high line soon cost them, as they were soon sent into disarray in the 12th minute, as Scott Wharton clumsily conceded a penalty after bringing down Johnson. After Adam Wharton gave the ball away cheaply just inside the Rovers half, Forest countered, as Johnson ran at the Rovers defence, skipped over Wharton Jr’s challenge, before being body checked by Wharton Snr in the area, which gave Mr. Jones no alternative, but to point to the spot. Brennan Johnson managed to keep his cool in-front of the Blackburn End, but sent Pears the wrong way for 1-0.
Rovers tried to bite back from kick-off, but Lewis Travis’ cross proved too high for Hirst, as Dean Henderson managed to get a hand to punch the ball to safety.
In the 22nd minute, Rovers played a short corner into Sam Szmodics whose cross deflected off Harry Toffolo, forcing Dean Henderson into a reactionary save to keep the score in the visitor’s favour.
Rovers’ spell in possession continued after Henderson cleared the ball, as Adam Wharton tried his luck from 25-yards, but couldn’t keep his shot down.
Moments later, Forest had the ball up the other end as Awoniyi tried to find Jesse Lingard, who dummied brilliantly for Orel Mangala who came steaming into the box, but Pears was equal to the Belgian’s attempt.
Dilan Markanday began to twist and turn the Forest defenders inside out in the 35th minute after being found by Ryan Hedges, but after breaking into the penalty area and squirming through a couple of red bodies, his left-footed effort narrowly zipped wide of the post.
Rovers’ pressure continued as they were awarded a corner, which soon led to a succession of free-kicks for the home side. By the 44th minute, Adam Wharton stood over a free-kick on the left-hand side which he aimed towards the near-post where brother Scott was waiting to pounce as the defender duly delivered with aplomb, for 1-1, as Dean Henderson was rooted to the spot, as the Wharton brothers celebrated the equaliser together.
As the 45th minute approached, two minutes were added onto the end of the first period as both sides tried to go ahead prior to the break in order to try and unsettle either dressing room.
Forest nearly managed to get their noses back in-front as Neco Williams looked to sneak in a wide-freekick at the near-post, but Pears was alert and, on his toes, as he managed to parry the ball behind for a corner, which soon led to the half-time whistle being blown after the Blues cleared the danger.
With the game finely poised, Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been encouraging his players to continue taking the game to Forest and to keep their work-rate high, given they had managed to draw level.
Steve Cooper, meanwhile, would have been disappointed with how his side had conceded, but would have taken encouragement from a dominant first-half and would have hoped that his side’s quality, or Rovers’ young legs would tire in the second-half.
Just before Jesse Lingard got the second period underway, Rovers made their first substitution of the game, as Tayo Edun replaced Clinton Mola, who had been run ragged by Brennan Johnson in the first-half.
In the 52nd minute, Scott Wharton was booked for hauling down a counter-attacking Jesse Lingard, with some commentators arguing that the Rovers scorer was lucky not to be sent off. The former Manchester United man dusted himself down to take the dangerous set-piece himself, from the edge of the area, and after having it teed up for him, the midfielder’s effort wrong-footed Pears via a deflection and nestled into the bottom right-hand corner of the net for 2-1.
Joe Worrall soon became the second player to be booked on the night, as he fouled Hedges in the 55th minute.
The visitor’s first change of the night came in the 63rd minute, as Lewis O’Brien replaced Orel Mangala.
Two minutes later, Jesse Lingard was looking for his brace as he tried to beat Pears for a second time, but this time, without the assistance of a deflection, but the goalkeeper produced another magnificent save to deny the 30-year-old.
Pears was again called into action in the 69th minute, as he denied Joe Worrall from Neco Williams’ corner.
Rovers made a triple change in the 73rd minute as Dom Hyam, John Buckley and Tyrhys Dolan replaced Ash Phillips, Adam Wharton and Dilan Markanday.
The changes failed to shift the balance of the tie, as Pears again showed his quality in the face of Forest’s attack, by producing a fine double save to keep Rovers in the tie, as he first blocked Johnson’s header, before saving Ryan Yates’ near-post follow-up.
Forest’s dominance soon paid off in the most controversial of fashions, as after Tyrhys Dolan was clotheslined inside the Forest half, and Joe Worrall played a blatant back-pass to Dean Henderson, referee Robert Jones somehow waved play on for both accounts, as Forest worked their way back up the field quickly, before Lingard threaded Awoniyi through, who simply turned Scott Wharton before slotting past the on-rushing Pears for 3-1.
After the goal, Steve Cooper made a triple change in the 81st minute offering Emmanuel Dennis, Sam Surridge and Jack Colback some game time, as Tayo Awoniyi, Jesse Lingard and Remo Freuler all departed.
As the tempo of the game died down, Rovers were forced into a fifth and final change after Tyrhys Dolan suffered an injury, leading to the late cameo arrival of Ben Brereton Díaz.
Forest’s final change came in the 88th minute when Loïc Mbe Soh replaced Neco Williams for the final few moments of the game.
In the 90th minute, Ryan Hedges looked to try and make the scoreline a bit more respectable from Rovers’ perspective, but the Welshman’s free-kick proved an easy catch for Dean Henderson, who was not pelted with Jelly Babies from the Blackburn End, this time around(!)
Once Henderson caught the ball, the fourth official’s board went up to indicate that three minutes of added time would be played prior to the game’s ending, but that proved more than enough time for Forest to cap off the evening with a fourth goal.
Forest played the ball out from the back and moved it out wide where Brennan Johnson brought the ball down for Sam Surridge, whose brilliant hold-up play took Scott Wharton and Tayo Edun out of the game, before the forward found Johnson on the overlap. The winger ran at Dom Hyam, who kept his distance to anticipate a block, but the forward’s single mindedness reigned supreme as he broke into the box and lasered an effort past Pears and into the bottom left-hand corner, to secure Nottingham Forest a place in the Quarter Final draw, on Thursday evening.
Moments after Rovers kicked-off, Robert Jones brought the evening to a conclusion, with Rovers extremely disappointed and frustrated at the manner of how they let the game fade away from them so easily.
Rovers were ultimately left wondering what might have been, with them only two games away from Wembley, or a tie with the ‘big boys’ of the Premier League. Although the Carabao Cup was always an added bonus on top of anything Rovers were to achieve in the Championship, supporters can be forgiven for being disappointed that their side were dumped out of the competition at such a late stage, especially after beating West Ham United in dramatic fashion, in the previous round. As with any team, wholesale changes do not help, but Rovers were at times, incredibly off the pace, collectively and personally for some players, despite going into the break level. It will be interesting to see the reaction in their next fixture.
Speaking of the next fixture, Rovers will take a short Christmas break, before returning to action on Boxing Day, where they will make the long and early trip up to the North-East to face Sunderland at 12:30pm – a game which will be viewable on Sky Sports. After that tie, Rovers return to Ewood Park to host Middlesbrough on Thursday 29th December at 7:45pm, in the Blues’ final game of 2022, before kicking-off 2023 by hosting Cardiff City on New Year’s Day, at midday.
