Blackpool 0-3 Peterborough United: Seasiders suffer EFL Trophy semi-final defeat at Bloomfield Road

The Seasiders were outclassed by their opponents, as a first half goal from Malik Mothersille and a Harrison Burrows brace after the break made it a good night for the Posh, who bounced back from their 2-1 defeat to those in Tangerine in League One at the weekend.

With a trip to Wembley in April now off the cards, the attention of Neil Critchley’s side will now fully turn to trying to salvage something from their League One campaign.

The visitors produced the first truly testing moment of the evening, with Richard O’Donnell forced into a save and James Husband making a block, before the ball was eventually fired into the side netting.

Blackpool’s keeper was soon called into action once again, as the 35-year-old made a great stop to deny Joel Randall as he ran through clean on goal following a poor bit of defending on the half way line from the Seasiders’ back three.

Another big opportunity for Peterborough soon followed, with space opening up for Ephron Mason-Clark on the left. As the forward went to release his shot, Marvin Ekpiteta made a crucial tackle to block the ball.

The deadlock was broken ahead of half time, as the Posh’s pressure paid off. The ball was chested down into the path of Mothersille just inside the box, allowing the 20-year-old to take a touch before smashing the ball past O’Donnell into the top right corner.

Blackpool’s chances didn’t really trouble Jed Steer during the opening 45 minutes of play, and it proved to be a similar story shortly after the restart, with a header from Jake Beesley lacking any power to trouble the Peterborough keeper, following a good cross from Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel. An aerial opportunity also came the way of Hayden Coulson, but the wing-back was unable to keep down his attempt after a ball into the box from Matty Virtue.

There were also a few opportunities for the visitors before they claimed their second, with one effort being denied by a fantastic clearance from Ekpiteta. The victory for Darren Ferguson’s side was eventually confirmed ahead of the final 10 minutes, courtesy of a penalty decision, allowing Harrison Burrows to convert from the spot.

Into stoppage time, the Posh captain rounded off the victory with another goal, with his shot finding its way into the back of the net with a kiss off the post.

Blackpool FC: Richard O’Donnell, Callum Connolly (72’), Marvin Ekpiteta, James Husband, Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel, Matty Virtue, Ollie Norburn, Albie Morgan (62’), Hayden Coulson, Kyle Joseph (62’), Jake Beesley (62’).

Substitutes: Dan Grimshaw, Matthew Pennington, George Byers, Karamoko Dembele (62’), Shayne Lavery (62’), CJ Hamilton (72’), Kylian Kouassi (62’).