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Blackburn sinks Stoke in FA Cup

Reuters

Blackburn - Blackburn Rovers' Norwegian striker Josh King plundered a 19-minute hat-trick as the Championship team overwhelmed Premier League Stoke City 4-1 in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday.

Stoke took the lead through Peter Crouch but conceded the initiative on half-time when Rudy Gestede put Blackburn in front with a penalty after Geoff Cameron was sent off for bringing down King, who had earlier equalised.

King completed his hat-trick early in the second half at Ewood Park to leave Gary Bowyer's Blackburn two wins from a first FA Cup final in 55 years.

To add to Stoke's misery, visiting supporters clashed with stewards and police during a prolonged second-half altercation in their stand, which could prompt a Football Association investigation.

Rendering the result all the more astonishing was the fact the hosts rested eight players from their previous league fixture, while Stoke manager Mark Hughes, the former Blackburn coach, named a full-strength line-up.

The Welshman's selection policy looked like being rewarded when Victor Moses's right-wing corner was helped on by Philipp Wollscheid for Crouch to bundle the ball in from six yards in the 10th minute.

Thereafter, Stoke could have taken complete control of the tie before Blackburn and King -- who joined Rovers after failing to break into the first team at Manchester United -- started their remarkable comeback.

Mame Biram Diouf's 18-yard shot was turned around the post by Blackburn goalkeeper Simon Eastwood, Marko Arnautovic shot into the side-netting, while Crouch and Diouf both miscued from close range after Moses's strike was well saved by Eastwood.

That last miss proved doubly costly as it immediately preceded the 36th-minute equaliser from King, who steered a header into the net after Shane Duffy had headed goalwards from Craig Conway's corner.

By now, Blackburn were in the ascendancy, with Gestede miskicking when clean through from a King cross and Wollschied being required to clear off his goal-line from Chris Taylor.

Carrying a 2-1 lead into the second half, Blackburn proved unstoppable against the 10 men of Stoke.

On 50 minutes, Gestede flicked on a Conway pass, allowing King to outsprint Marc Muniesa -- who injured himself in the process -- before finishing through the legs of Jack Butland.

And five minutes later, King completed his hat-trick in similar fashion, out-sprinting the half-hearted Stoke defenders and placing a low shot into the far corner from six yards.

Blackburn, last winners of the competition in 1928, could have ended the afternoon with an even more emphatic victory, but Butland saved superbly from Gestede while Conway shot wide after a powerful run.

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