BLACKBURN Rovers' Carling Cup hopes might be over for another season but Mark Hughes' players can at least console themselves with the thought that they left Old Trafford with their pride intact.

On a dramatic night of tunnel brawls, controversial penalty decisions and an awesome goalkeeping display from the outstanding Brad Friedel, it took a fortuitous strike from the elusive Louis Saha to finally settle this simmering dispute between these two former Premier League title rivals.

As in the first leg at Ewood Park a fortnight ago, Rovers, inspired by the indomitable spirit of Friedel, recovered from the loss of an early goal to mount a gutsy fight-back, culminating in a deserved equaliser for the dynamic Steven Reid.

However, their dreams of reaching a first major cup final under the shrewd leadership of Hughes were then cruelly shattered by Saha, who delivered his fatal blow shortly after the half-time interval.

That goal from the Frenchman ensured Sir Alex Ferguson maintained his excellent record in domestic cup semi-finals; remarkably, the United boss has now won 13 of the 14 he has presided over as a manager.

But even the Scot, who's hardly famous for his humility, had to admit his players were made to fight all the way - quite literally at times - before they earned the right to face Wigan Athletic in the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Defeat was hard to bear for Fergie's apprentice, Mark Hughes, after he had seen his players put so much into this tie over the course of the two legs.

Had a number of key decisions gone Rovers' way instead of United's, like Alan Smith only receiving a booking for a challenge that some refs would have deemed worthy of a straight red in the first leg, or Rio Ferdinand getting away with a clear handball in the area last night when Zurab Khizanishvili was punished for a lesser offence at the opposite end, then the outcome might have been different.

Instead, Rovers had to assume the role of gallant losers, but each and every one of Hughes' players could leave the self-styled 'Theatre of Dreams' with their heads held high, knowing they had pushed United all the way.

Putting on a brave face, Hughes said: "The lads are devastated they haven't got anything out of this game, but we'll pick ourselves up.

"We've come here and made a real good fist of it and I thought we were excellent from start to finish.

"In the end, a Manchester United team at Old Trafford had to bring on a defender to quell our attacks and I've not seen that for many years, so we'll take credit from the way we played tonight."

Needing to score to keep their hopes alive after United had snatched a vital away goal in the 1-1 draw at Ewood a fortnight ago, the odds were firmly stacked against Rovers, who were missing both Craig Bellamy and Paul Dickov through hamstring and shoulder injuries respectively.

Bellamy's absence, in particular, was a major set-back because his pace and clever movement were instrumental in Rovers winning here in the Premiership earlier in the season.

Hughes must therefore have feared the worst when Ruud Van Nistelrooy pounced on a defensive error to open the scoring for United after just eight minutes.

But Rovers dug deep and grabbed an equaliser through Reid in the 32nd minute that breathed new life into this tie. Suddenly, it was 'game on' again.

However, as is often the case at Old Trafford, the tie then hinged on a controversial decision from referee Graham Poll, shortly after United had gone ahead for a second time through Saha.

Ferdinand clearly handled the ball in the area in the 56th minute but, inexplicably, Mr Poll waved away Rovers' penalty appeals when he had earlier awarded a spot-kick for a far less obvious offence by Khizanishvili, which the magnificent Friedel went on to save.

At the end of the day, if you're to beat a team like United on their own patch then you need the big decisions like that to go in your favour.

That wasn't the only controversial incident, either, on a night when emotions were clearly running high in both camps.

Van Nistelrooy was lucky to escape a caution when he appeared to trample on Robbie Savage when the pair contested a ball over by the corner flag in the first half.

That then led to an angry confrontation between Ferdinand and Savage as the players made their way off the pitch at half-time, and an eye witness later told me that a punch was allegedly thrown in the ensuing tunnel melee.

Hughes had talked before the game about the importance of keeping things tight at the back early on, but that gameplan went out of the window before his players had time to work up a bead of sweat as United struck in devastating fashion after just eight minutes.

Michael Gray's careless pass in-field was intercepted by Ryan Giggs who, in turn, fed Wayne Rooney and the England ace strode forward with purpose before slipping a pass in towards Van Nistelrooy, who had peeled off to the right.

Desperately trying to retrieve the situation, Gray attempted an interception but he only succeeded in prodding the ball straight to Van Nistelrooy, who poked it past Friedel with his outstretched boot.

At that point, United must have thought they were in for an easy ride, but they should have known better after Rovers' stirring fight-back in the first leg.

The equaliser arrived in the 32nd minute when Gray's mis-hit cross from the left caused Kieran Richardson to slice a clearance against Wes Brown and straight to Reid, who hammered a low drive past Edwin Van Der Sar. 1-1!

Friedel then took centre stage as he brilliantly saved Van Nistelrooy's penalty and he eclipsed that after the break with an even better effort to keep out the Dutchman's header. Shades of Gordon Banks versus Pele!

United finally broke through again in the 51st minute, Saha volleying home Rooney's cross, before Friedel excelled again with another stop to thwart Van Nistelrooy.

So one door to Europe closes, but another two remain open.