Blackburn Rovers 4-1 Wrexham (29 Jan, 2024) Game Analysis،
Sammie Szmodics scored twice as second division Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat lowly Wrexham 4-1 on Monday and secure an FA Cup fifth round clash with Premier League side Newcastle United.
Andy Cannon put League Two side Wrexham ahead in the 19th minute, but the Championship side responded with two more first half goals in the space of two minutes.
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Szmodics equalized in the 32nd minute and Sam Gallagher made it 2-1 in the 34th with Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo caught out of position.
Szmodics then grabbed his second and fifth of the FA Cup campaign in first-half stoppage time before Norwegian midfielder Sondre Tronstad made it 4-1 with a deflected shot to the 59th.
Blackburn's Danish manager Jon Dahl Tomasson, a former Newcastle player, told BBC television that the Cup always held dangers for a team like his against inferior opponents.
“We started really well, we could have been 2-0 up after five minutes and then we conceded a goal. But the players stayed calm and we scored three brilliant goals afterwards and dominated the game. It was a great victory,” he said. .
Cannon's goal was Wrexham's first real chance of the evening and he sent the ball past goalkeeper Aynsley Pears to the roar of the 7,000 Wrexham supporters who had traveled to Blackburn's Ewood Park.
Pears denied Cannon a second with a fine double save three minutes later, but there was to be no fairy tale ending for the Welsh side as Blackburn piled on the pressure and swept the visitors aside.
Wrexham have gained new global support since film stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over and helped secure their return to the English Football League last season after a 15-year absence.
Those with longer memories will know Wrexham as former giant-killers, knocking then-league champions Arsenal out of the FA Cup third round in a huge 1992 upset as fourth-tier opponents.
In 1974, as a third division team, they reached the quarter-finals.
“It's a big lesson for us against higher quality opponents. You have to be on all the time or you get punished, and they punished us tonight,” said Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, who was serving a key suspension. “Tonight was not the night for us but we will concentrate on the second half of the season in the league.”
Wrexham are currently second in League Two and chasing a second consecutive promotion.
FA Cup holders Manchester City booked their place in the fifth round last Friday with a 1-0 victory at Tottenham Hotspur.
