Don’t read too much into the scoreline. If ever one was grossly misleading, it was this. Had they not fallen asleep at the back on a couple of occasions late on, Manchester United would have won by the wide margin that they deserved. Instead, they were given a little fright, although ultimately it did not affect the result.

Blackburn Rovers barely merited a goal, let alone three, and once the dust has settled on a Carling Cup quarter-final tie that was not nearly as exciting as one may think, save for a wonderful first hat-trick in English football for Carlos Tévez, Paul Ince’s position will again come under scrutiny.

Blackburn’s supporters had just about stomached their team’s dreadful start to the season up to this point, but last night at Old Trafford seemed the tipping point. The cries of “You don’t know what you’re doing” aimed at Ince by Blackburn’s small army of fans had started long before the final whistle, and if there is not a marked improvement when Liverpool, the Barclays Premier League leaders, visit Ewood Park on Saturday, one fears what kind of reception the beleaguered manager may get. Tellingly, Ince refused to appear for the press conference after the game.

If there was a crumb of comfort for Ince, it was the manner in which his Blackburn side rallied as the game entered the 85th minute with his team trailing 4-1, although their second and third goals owed more to poor lapses in concentration from Patrice Evra, a United substitute, than anything else.

This was not so much a Blackburn fightback as another slightly troubling example of United taking their foot off the pedal, just as they had done against Hull City in their home league game last month, but if Sir Alex Ferguson was unimpressed with some of his team’s defending, the manager was positively ecstatic with Tévez, Blackburn’s tormentor-in-chief.

The Argentina striker had a hand in all five of United’s goals, scoring three himself, even if his attempts to claim a fourth are likely to be thwarted by the FA’s Dubious Goals Panel, who will doubtless reason that Aaron Mokoena, the Blackburn and South Africa midfield player, was responsible for breaking the deadlock, not Tévez.

As Ryan Giggs swung in a free kick, Mokoena stooped to clear the ball under pressure from Tévez, only to head it into his own net. From then on the result was never in doubt, late rally or no late rally.

Tévez has found his route to the first team blocked by Dimitar Berbatov this season, but more of this and Ferguson will find it impossible not to start him regularly. No wonder the United manager is so eager to sign the Argentinian on a permanent deal. “Carlos was marvellous — his energy and commitment were brilliant,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think you could ask for a better performance than that.”

Ferguson had claimed that Blackburn’s position in the relegation zone “might well make them even trickier for us”, but who was he kidding?

United were miserable for 35 minutes and still Blackburn could not find a way through them. Then Ferguson’s team struck twice in the space of four minutes in the first half and all Blackburn hope seemed to evaporate.

Ince has complained that, without investment in January, Blackburn will be in for “a struggle”, but with the exception of the departed David Bentley and Brad Friedel, this is the same squad of players whom Mark Hughes, Ince’s predecessor as manager, believed was capable of challenging for a Champions League place not too long ago.

So what has happened? Confidence is clearly shot, as typified by their reluctance to attack United when a more adventurous team might have taken the game to the home side. Benni McCarthy, the South Africa forward, injected a little life into the team when he was introduced at half-time in place of Brett Emerton, but few others emerged with any credit.