Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur joined Burnley and Derby County in the Carling Cup semi-finals.

With his Old Trafford future at stake, Carlos Tevez seized his opportunity to fire United to a 5-3 win over Blackburn in an entertaining encounter at Old Trafford.

The Argentina forward hit three goals - after also claiming United's opener, which seemed to have gone in off Aaron Mokoena - to remind Sir Alex Ferguson of his hunger and undoubted ability.

Nani was also on target for the hosts, with a Benni McCarthy brace and Matt Derbyshire strike proving insufficient for Paul Ince's Rovers.

Spurs, meanwhile, saw off a spirited Watford side 2-1 at Vicarage Road thanks to a late winner from substitute Darren Bent.

Tamas Priskin gave Brendan Rodgers' side an early lead before Roman Pavlyuchenko netted for the holders from the penalty spot to maintain his record of scoring in each round of this season's competition.

Harry Redknapp's magic touch has turned Spurs' season around and it worked again when he brought on Bent as a substitute to score the winner with 14 minutes remaining.

Burnley and Derby secured their last-four berths last night with victories over Arsenal and Stoke respectively.

ESS