WHO needs Wayne Rooney when you've got the irrepressible Morten Gamst Pedersen?

The twinkle-toed Norwegian, who grew up supporting Manchester United, once again came up with the goods last night by scoring the goal that gave Blackburn Rovers' Carling Cup hopes the kiss of life.

Four months ago, it was Pedersen who effectively put the skids under United's title challenge when he scored both goals in a famous Blackburn win at Old Trafford.

Now, the former Tromso star with the boy band looks is threatening to do the same to the Reds' cup ambitions after yet another one of his specials' left this semi-final delicately poised at the halfway stage.

On a night when the otherwise impressive Rooney spurned a hatful of chances for United, Pedersen needed just one to drag Mark Hughes' side back into this tie.

Eager to avenge that Premiership defeat from earlier in the season, United must have thought they were in for an easy night when Louis Saha fired them into a 30th minute lead, the Frenchman applying a stylish finish to a slick counterattack.

However, Pedersen clearly had other ideas and six minutes later the 24-year-old, who is fast becoming Sir Alex Ferguson's nemesis, produced a brilliant right-foot thunderbolt that means Rovers will head to the Theatre of Dreams in a fortnight's time still firmly believing they can reach their second major final in four years.

It's going to be tough for Hughes' side to reach Cardiff again, but they are now unbeaten in five games against the Reds and it's worth pointing out that they have scored on six of their last seven visits to Old Trafford so this tie is far from over.

On top of that, with Pedersen in this kind of mood, anything is impossible.

"I was delighted with the response after we went behind," said Hughes.

"It was a fantastic strike from Morten, he's doing it on a regular basis now, and he'll continue to do that because he's a talented young man."

As for the tie itself, Hughes was thrilled with the way his players competed in the first half and, with a bit more luck in front of goal, they could easily have gone in clutching a leading at the break.

But United then came out with all guns blazing in the second half and Andy Todd, Ryan Nelsen and the supremely focused Michael Gray, who was up against the slippery Cristiano Ronaldo, needed all their powers of concentration to ride out the storm.

"I felt we allowed ourselves to get pegged back somewhat in the second half and that caused us to drop a little bit too deep, and we found it difficult to build our own attacks from such a deep position," said Hughes.

"But you have to understand the quality of the opposition we were up against.

"The likes of Rooney and Saha are very clever and they have great ability. They can both retain possession and they've, obviously, got great pace as well, so it's very difficult to negate the threat they have."

Unlike Wigan's often tepid encounter with Arsenal the night before, this was a real blood and thunder cup tie, especially in the first half when both sides were going hell for leather.

One clash, in particular, in the 37th minute typified the commitment that was in evidence on both sides.

Alan Smith floored Robbie Savage with a meaty challenge that must have shook the Welshman to the core and in the melee that followed, Savage and Rooney grappled with each other on the floor.

When referee Rob Styles finally restored order, he promptly issued yellow cards to all three, a punishment that was harsh in Savage's case and maybe lenient on Smith.

From then on, the pendulum swung in United's favour and Rovers needed all their character to survive.

Earlier, Rovers, who were roared on by a fervent home following, so nearly made the dream start when David Bentley conjured an opening for Savage inside 27 seconds.

The midfielder hooked a cross towards the far post, where Savage was lurking totally unmarked, but the Welshman's volley was too close to Edwin Van Der Sar, who managed to smuggle the ball to safety.

If that was an early warning for United then they failed to heed it as six minutes later Bentley was only a whisker away from connecting with another left-wing centre, this time delivered from the boot of Pedersen.

Ominously, Sir Alex Ferguson's red machine gradually began to crank into action and Rooney should have done better than slice a shot horribly over the bar from Ronaldo's clever cut-back.

Rooney then volleyed another effort straight into the arms of a grateful Brad Friedel before United scored in devastating fashion in the 30th minute.

Nelsen beat Rooney in the air but the ball dropped perfectly for Ryan Giggs on the half line and a quick dab on the accelerator took the Welshman deep into enemy territory.

The rest was all about Saha, whose clever movement flummoxed Todd, and when Giggs' pass arrived at his feet, the Frenchman wasted little time in beating Friedel from 12 yards out.

Some sides would have crumbled after suffering such a blow, but not Rovers, who under Hughes, are made of sterner stuff these days.

Within six minutes parity was restored thanks to that man Pedersen.

Nelsen's pass forward was flicked on by Shefki Kuqi to the Norwegian, who tamed the ball with his first touch before unleashing a right-foot rocket that scorched past Van Der Sar and exploded into the Dutchman's top left corner. Brilliant!

Both sides traded blows at the beginning of the second half, Rooney firing wide for United, then Kuqi doing the same at the opposite end following some unselfish work by the hard working Craig Bellamy.

After that, though, Rovers started to lose the initiative and the longer the half wore on, the deeper they seemed to retreat.

That was partly down to the quality of United, who, spurred on by the triumvirate of Giggs, Rooney and Ronaldo, succeeded in pinning Rovers in their own half for long spells.

With Savage and Tugay both on bookings, Rovers couldn't press the ball in the centre of the park quite as vigorously as they had in the first half, which meant Smith and Darren Fletcher had time and space to pick out the Reds' more creative forces.

But still Hughes' back four held firm and, apart from a couple of half chances for Rooney, Friedel's goal was rarely threatened.

So it's all set up for the second leg. The question is, can Pedersen do it again?