Blackburn Rovers 1 Arsenal 0: McCarthy delivers spark for Blackburn

Arsène Wenger will not remember it as his happiest week in English cup football but after the Battle of Cardiff on Sunday, and a similarly gritty skirmish at Ewood Park last night, at least this tie was decided by a moment of the sweetest quality. After 177 minutes of grimly determined FA Cup football, Benni McCarthy gave everyone a reminder that the old competition has a tradition of glory too.

It was a sumptuous goal, struck with his right foot with devastating power, and it cut through the debate about Mark Hughes' policy of containment at the Emirates in the first match. This was, as the Blackburn manager said, a goal worthy of winning any cup tie and it left Wenger to contemplate how different his season might look this morning had he had either the injured Thierry Henry or the suspended Emmanuel Adebayor available last night.

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Wenger railing against the Football Association's disciplinary system and his attack on Sunday's Carling Cup final linesman will dominate in the aftermath of this game but for Hughes, a place against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final is a serious achievement. Even that most understated of managers, was prepared to joke that surely he deserved some credit for bringing on his match-winner with 28 minutes left.

A £2.5m signing from Porto in the summer, McCarthy had, of late, been lacking "the spark" according to Hughes and was left on the bench. When he came on to deliver his 16th goal of the season he could hardly have chosen a better moment. For Wenger it was bleak. The Champions League is now the season's only realistic target - if winning that competition can be described as a realistic aim - and, a goal down to PSV Eindhoven, that is looking like a long shot.

Arsenal under Wenger have not lost three successive games since October 2002. Elimination at the hands of PSV on Wednesday would plunge the club into a depression in sharp contrast to the elation of the two cup victories over Liverpool last month that were achieved with such a youthful second string. Under seriously depleted resources last night, injuries and suspension taking a heavy toll, Wenger's resources of brilliant young players finally hit their limit.

The roll call of the absentees was virtually a potential FA Cup-winning team in itself. From Sunday he had Adebayor and Kolo Touré suspended; Justin Hoyte and Abou Diaby injured and yet, despite all that, he chose to rest Cesc Fabregas. That was just the state of the Carling Cup final team - before you even began to consider the injuries to the likes of Henry, Tomas Rosicky and Robin Van Persie.

Things were so bad that Arsenal turned up last night with Gavin Hoyte, younger brother of Justin, on the bench. At 16 years and 268 days he would have been the club's youngest player in the FA Cup. Alongside him were the 17-year-olds Mark Randall and Theo Walcott, watched by Steve McClaren.

The Arsenal manager rarely shows his temper but the brevity of his answers in the aftermath told their own story. While he complained about a Blackburn team that had "created nothing" over two games, Hughes argued that Arsenal had also been restricted. The difference was the quality of the goalscorers and Julio Baptista's golden run in the Carling Cup does not appear to have extended to the FA Cup.

The Brazilian headed Denilson's cross over the bar on 33 minutes when he was unmarked and Freddie Ljungberg should have done better with a throughball on 38 minutes. The big decision last night was when Brett Emerton pulled on Ljungberg's shoulder as he went into the Blackburn area. The Arsenal midfielder's fall to the ground did not have quite the ring of authenticity about it but there was definitely a clumsy kind of contact that Graham Poll waved away.

An earlier decision, after a clash between Brad Friedel and Jérémie Aliadière had been easier for the referee to dismiss. By the time Emmanuel Eboué hobbled off after an hour it was a distinctly unfamiliar Arsenal side. For all Wenger's powers of tactical innovation, even he would find it hard agreeing that Philippe Senderos at right-back was a good solution.

Walcott came on to the right side of Arsenal's midfield to give them an even more youthful aspect. On 72 minutes, Baptista struck a glorious shot from 35 yards that Friedel did well to turn around the post. Tempers were wearing thin at times, never more so than on the touchline when Wenger grabbed the ball as it rolled into touch and prevented Morten Gamst Pedersen from taking a quick throw. It was an inflammatory gesture and Hughes did well to keep a lid on his temper. "He just kept it a bit longer than he should have," the Rovers manager said diplomatically.

There was quality about the long ball down the left that McCarthy picked up before beating Senderos, but the finish, across Manuel Almunia, was the clincher. And for all his sense of injustice, Wenger could have no argument with that.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Friedel; Emerton, Nelsen, Samba, Warnock (Khizanishvili, h-t); Bentley, Tugay (Dunn, 63), Mokoena, Pedersen; Nonda (McCarthy, 63), Derbyshire. Substitutes not used: Enckelman (gk), Roberts.

Arsenal (4-4-2): Almunia; Eboué (Walcott, 60), Senderos, Gallas, Traoré (Clichy, 67); Ljungberg, Denilson, Gilberto Silva, Hleb; Aliadière, Baptista. Substitutes not used: Poom (gk), G Hoyte, Randall.

Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).