West Ham crush Blackburn to reach FA Cup quarters
LONDON (Reuters) - West Ham United eased into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 5-1 romp at second-tier Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
The Londoners were given an early jolt when Ben Marshall's low shot put Rovers ahead but they responded in emphatic fashion with goals from Victor Moses and Dimitri Payet before halftime and a brace from Emmanuel Emenike and another classy Payet effort after the break.
Nigerian Emenike could have claimed a hat-trick late on when he slammed a shot against the post after some nifty footwork.
Both sides ended with 10 men with Blackburn losing Chris Taylor for a second yellow card after a trip on Moses and the Hammers having to do without Cheikhou Kouyate for the closing stages after he was shown a straight red for tripping Adam Henley.
Later on Sunday Chelsea host Manchester City while Tottenham Hotspur take on Crystal Palace.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)