Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Liverpool: FA Cup Shock
One team dreams of conquering England and Europe, while the other fights to avoid relegation from the Championship. Liverpool, currently leading the Premier League and finishing top of their Champions League group under Arne Slot, faced Plymouth Argyle, a side struggling at the bottom of the 24-team Championship.
Despite the stark contrast, it was Plymouth who left the pitch celebrating. In a stunning FA Cup fourth-round upset, they defeated Liverpool 1-0 at home.
Ryan Hardie scored the only goal in the 53rd minute from the penalty spot. Liverpool, fielding a second-string squad, threw everything forward but couldn’t break through. Plymouth’s goalkeeper, Conor Hazard, put on a heroic display, stopping wave after wave of attacks.
In the dying minutes, Hazard made two brilliant saves to deny Liverpool an equalizer, sealing a famous win for Plymouth.
With this loss, Liverpool’s hopes of winning four trophies this season have come to an end. They are still competing in the Champions League, Premier League, and EFL Cup.
The team that crushed Tottenham 4-0 on Thursday to reach the League Cup final had ten changes in today’s starting XI. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Cody Gakpo were not even on the bench. Yet, with Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota, and Federico Chiesa in attack, Liverpool remained dangerous. But ultimately, their fourth defeat of the season also marked their FA Cup exit.
Liverpool paid the price for Harvey Elliott’s handball, which led to the penalty. Hardie stepped up and calmly slotted past Caoimhín Kelleher. The Irish keeper did redeem himself with a superb save minutes later to deny Hardie a second goal.
Arne Slot brought on Darwin Núñez to change the game, but it wasn’t enough. In the end, it was Plymouth’s night, with Conor Hazard emerging as the hero.
