Forget, for a moment, the violence that marred the end of normal time of this match and savour instead a Carling Cup tie so absorbing that, even on a bitterly cold night in Lancashire, no one would have moaned had it gone to penalties. That it was not decided by such a lottery, however, seemed right somehow.

Blackburn Rovers demonstrated all of their famed powers of resilience to come from two goals behind to take the game into extra time, but, ultimately, it was the class of a young Arsenal team that told. As impressed as Arsène Wenger was with the quality of his young players, it was the mental strength that they showed to win a game while reduced to ten men after Denilson had been sent off in the 90th minute that most pleased the Arsenal manager.

It was a shame that Denilson momentarily lost his head, because calmness and composure on the ball had otherwise been a feature of Arsenal’s play. The midfield player’s red card for a two-footed lunge at David Dunn was the 70th meted out during Wenger’s reign — so much for Mark Hughes’s claim that Arsenal get preferential treatment from referees — but it would be wrong to dwell too much on such indiscretions.

Eduardo da Silva won it with his second goal of the evening, a fine finish from Alex Song’s through-ball, but while Blackburn could count themselves unlucky not to have at least taken the game to a shoot-out, with Christopher Samba heading against a post and Morten Gamst Pedersen and Benni McCarthy squandering glorious chances, this was a night when Arsenal’s youngsters again singled themselves out as something special.

Blackburn are hardly a team to invoke sympathy, but during an intoxicating first 45 minutes of football from Arsenal, it was almost possible to feel a little pity for Hughes’s team. “Our game plan didn’t work out in the first half,” Hughes said. Too right.

On paper, it was men against boys. In reality, it was anything but. Only Wenger could have the confidence to send out a team with an average age of less than 21 and expect them to win in one of the more unforgiving surrounds of English football.

When the kids are as good as this, though, who can blame him? Blackburn are an intimidating prospect, but Arsenal’s youngsters showed absolutely no signs of fear and produced such a masterclass of pass-and-move football that it was easy to forget you were not watching the first team.

That Blackburn trailed only 2-1 at the interval owed as much to their own resilience as good fortune, but while the scoreline did not necessarily hint at it, the gulf in class was undeniable. Hughes stood ashen-faced on the touchline for most of it, before Roque Santa Cruz brought a smile to his face with the first of two goals. If the manager felt embarrassed, how about his players? These were seasoned, talented professionals being given the runaround by Wenger’s wonderkids.

Only six minutes had elapsed when Arsenal took the lead. Mark Randall, an 18-year-old making his third appearance in Arsenal’s first team, played in Nicklas Bendtner down the right after a neat interchange of passes. Bendtner glanced up, spotted Abou Diaby and his cross was perfect, leaving Diaby, with a slightly scuffed shot that seemed to confuse Brad Friedel, to open the scoring.

Three minutes later, one should have been two. Bendtner exchanged a one-two with Diaby, again combining to devastating effect as Steven Reid, a makeshift right back, was once more caught out. Bendtner’s deft shot, however, bounced back off the crossbar.

With Blackburn’s defence in disarray, Arsenal sensed blood. Denilson was pulling the strings in midfield, Diaby and Randall posed a constant threat on the wings and Bendtner and Eduardo, at 24 the elder statesman in the team, switched positions to dizzying effect up front.

They were two goals to the good in the 29th minute. Samba failed to cut out Denilson’s exquisite pass and Eduardo did the rest, showing great composure to slot the ball past Friedel.

Blackburn, under Hughes, have never been ones to keel over, however, although it was probably fitting that their best player was a former Arsenal trainee. David Bentley clearly had a point or two to prove and tested Lukasz Fabianski, the Arsenal goalkeeper, with a couple of free kicks.

It looked as though Arsenal would take a 2-0 lead into the break but Blackburn had other ideas, even if Matt Derbyshire should have been flagged offside before he swept the ball across the face of goal for Santa Cruz to score.

Blackburn are rarely dictated to for long, however good the opposition, and buoyed by the goal, the second half was always going to be tighter. This, Wenger might have reasoned, is when his youngster’s mettle would be tested, and while they stuck resolutely to their game plan, Blackburn’s sheer force of will began to shine through.

Arsenal had ridden their luck slightly before Blackburn equalised on the hour, again through Santa Cruz. Bentley and Pedersen had already flung in corners that bred panic in the

Arsenal area, when the Paraguay striker’s header from Bentley’s free kick gave Fabianski no chance.

Delighted as he was with the goal, Hughes still raged over the foul that had led up to it, Randall being booked for scything through Stephen Warnock. It was not the last time Arsenal would demonstrate an aggression to match their ability.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): B Friedel — S Reid, C Samba, R Nelsen, S Warnock (sub: Z Khizanishvili, 120min) — D Bentley, D Dunn (sub: A Mokoena, 105), R Savage, M G Pedersen — M Derbyshire (sub: B McCarthy, 90), R Santa Cruz. Substitutes not used: J Brown, J Roberts. Booked: Warnock, Samba, Reid, Savage.

Arsenal (4-4-2): L Fabianski — J Hoyte, A Song, P Senderos, A Traoré — M Randall (sub: N Barazite, 80; sub: F Merida, 100), L Diarra, Denilson, A Diaby — Eduardo da Silva (sub: K Gibbs, 115), N Bendtner. Substitutes not used: V Mannone, G Hoyte. Booked: Randall, Denilson, Diarra, Eduardo. Sent off: Denilson.

Referee: M Riley.