divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/99052?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Cool+Tevez+hat-trick+sends+United+into+the+semisch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Carling+Cup%2CManchester+United+%28Football%29%2CBlackburn+Rovers+%28Football+club%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CPremier+Leaguec6=Daniel+Taylorc7=2008_12_03c8=1128459c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Carling+Cupc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FCarling+Cup" width="1" height="1" //divpStrap a polygraph to Sir Alex Ferguson and he might just be forced to admit that he often finds the Carling Cup little more than a hindrance in a cluttered fixture list. At this stage of the competition the good definitely outweighs the bad and Manchester United will take their place in the semi-finals as the favourites to reach, and win, another Wembley final./ppEven with a vastly weakened side they were far too good for a Blackburn team teetering on the brink of a full-blown crisis, with Paul Ince facing voluble abuse from the small band of away supporters. There were chants of "We want Incey out" and "You don't know what you're doing" and the name of the club's former manager Graeme Souness was sung./ppThis was certainly a chastening experience for Ince on the ground where he once played with such distinction. Carlos Tevez was magnificent, scoring twice and taking much of the credit for forcing Aaron Mokoena into an own goal. Nani completed United's scoring and Blackburn's goals, via Benni McCarthy and Matt Derbyshire, had little impact, coming with the score at 2-0 and then 4-1. /ppFerguson watched this unfold from a seat high in the South Stand, having been banished from the dugout as penance for angrily confronting the referee Mike Dean after their recent game against Hull City. In truth, it was little more than a minor inconvenience, but a bitingly cold one, too, on a night when Mike Phelan and the other coaching staff could make use of the specially heated seats that Ferguson asked to be installed a couple of years ago./ppThe United manager had made 10 changes from the team that beat Manchester City on Sunday and it was clear that even if Ronaldo had not been suspended he would have been given the night off. This was an experimental side of fringe players, the Portuguese-speaking clan of Anderson, Nani, Rodrigo Possebon and Rafael da Silva, plus a couple of older heads in Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. Ferguson had taken a calculated risk and, in the end, he was entitled to feel he got it just right./ppWith so many changes, it was probably only to be expected there would be spells when United did not play with the usual fluency and penetration. Blackburn are on a miserable run of form and, after a subdued start from the home side, it soon became apparent why Ince's team have not kept a clean sheet since mid-October./ppThe opening goal came from a Ryan Giggs free-kick and was credited to Carlos Tevez. It was a popular call as Tevez is a favourite of the Old Trafford crowd in what has become a difficult period for him in the wake of Dimitar Berbatov's signing. Replays, however, confirmed that Tevez's only role had been to apply pressure to Aaron Mokoena at the far post. With the striker coming from behind, Mokoena tried to head the ball clear but, losing balance, succeeded only in diverting it beyond Robinson for an own goal./ppUntil that point United had threatened only sporadically and Nani was demonstrating why he must be considered the player most at risk from the arrival in January of the Serbia international Zoran Tosic. Nani's slow development should be a cause of consternation for Ferguson given that the Portuguese international cost more than Ronaldo, but five minutes before the interval there was a demonstration of what he is capable of. The one-two with Tevez was fast and incisive and Nani's right-foot shot was precise to made it 2-0./ppFerguson has lost only two of the 33 games at Old Trafford in which he has faced teams managed by his former players. Briefly, Blackburn threatened to dent that record when the half-time substitute McCarthy ran on to Robinson's long goal-kick and, having benefited from Neville's slow reactions, lashed a right-foot volley past Ben Foster./ppThis was the night when Foster finally made his home debut for United, almost three and a half years since signing from Stoke City. Ince could reflect that his team made it a busier 90 minutes for the goalkeeper than Edwin can der Sar often faces but it was only a crumb of consolation given the way Blackburn's defence collapsed. Within two minutes Andre Ooijer had brought down Tevez, running on to Giggs's through ball and the Argentinian made it 3-1 from the penalty spot./ppThe outstanding moment of the night followed four minutes later. Anderson was involved three times, Giggs once and Tevez twice, as United's sharp, incisive passing and movement made traffic cones out of their opponents. It finished with Anderson running clear, with the chance to score his first-ever United goal. His unselfishness could only be admired as he squared the ball for Tevez to roll it into an empty net. It was a goal that deserved every superlative going. /ppThe game was won and it was inconsequential when Derbyshire stabbed the ball past Foster with five minutes to go and Benni McCarthy scored from Derbyshire's cross./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/carlingcup"Carling Cup/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/manchesterunited"Manchester United/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blackburn"Blackburn Rovers/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/6TfHMdcuRQUjD3Ss9Td2_MU2YKo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/6TfHMdcuRQUjD3Ss9Td2_MU2YKo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p