Pogba & Zlatan Pleased With Win

Second-half substitutes Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba were happy to play influential roles in Manchester United reaching the FA Cup last-eight with a 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers.

The Reds had to come from behind to beat the Championship club in a hard-fought match at Ewood Park, where Danny Graham broke the deadlock and Marcus Rashford equalised. With the score level, Pogba supplied a superb assist for his fellow replacement Ibrahimovic to hit a winner on 75 minutes.

Zlatan was humble about his impact when speaking to BT Sport, but clearly delighted to be through to the next round of the competition. "The team did well before we came on, they worked hard and were a little unlucky to concede the goal but they stuck in and got level," the 35-year-old said.

"In the second half it opened up a little bit more and Paul played me a great ball and I was happy to put it in and get on the scoresheet. It was a good team performance. We worked hard and we got the result and it only gives us more confident to keep going forward with each game."

The winning goal was the sixth time this season that Pogba has assisted Ibrahimovic, which continues to draw praise for the way the pair have linked linked up since they both arrived in the summer.

"I just try to help the team out as much as possible," Pogba explained after the match. "I notice his movement and his runs, and today it worked out. Sometimes it does but also sometimes it doesn’t. Thankfully today it did and we got the win so I’m happy."

United had it far from easy on a rainy afternoon in Lancashire and Ibrahimovic stressed the importance of claiming the victory from difficult circumstances.

"Every game since I have come to England has been tough," he stated. "Not one team just dominates the game. It is back and forth. You have to make less mistakes in order to win the game.

"Each game is special, especially in the FA Cup. Whether the team is in the Championship or Premier League it doesn’t matter. As we saw on Saturday, not every team who is the favourite goes through and we had to make sure we did our job as the favourites and we did that."