Osamagbe Imadiyi
Championship underdogs Plymouth pulled off a stunning 1-0 victory in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, ending Liverpool’s humiliating FA Cup exit. Ryan Hardie’s penalty in the second half sealed Plymouth’s historic upset at Home Park, and Arne Slot’s choice to start a depleted Liverpool squad ultimately backfired.
Slot rested a number of players, including Cody Gakpo, Andrew Robertson, Mohamed Salah, and Virgil van Dijk, from the squad that crushed Tottenham 4-0 in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final on Thursday.
It was an uncommon mistake by the former Feyenoord manager in a startlingly successful first season as Liverpool’s manager. The Premier League leaders had failed to score under Slot for just the third time this season, as Liverpool suffered their fourth loss across all competitions. It was just the fourth time a lower division club had beaten a Premier League champion out of the FA Cup.
Liverpool now needs to recover from their awful journey to the west country in time for Wednesday’s final Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park.
Gritty Plymouth put forth a lot of effort to hold Liverpool at bay while Liverpool struggled to gain any momentum. James McConnell’s long-range effort was blocked by Conor Hazard in the 36th minute, marking the last time Liverpool managed to muster a shot on goal.
Slot’s frustrated look encapsulated Liverpool’s sluggishness even before Harvey Elliott’s raised arm stopped Darko Gyabi’s overhead kick in the 54th minute.
Hardie maintained his cool to send Caoimhin Kelleher off in the wrong direction from the penalty spot, which was obviously a penalty.
Miron Muslic, who was a refugee from war-torn Bosnia as a child, had no trouble leading Argyle to a historic victory over Liverpool while battling to lift Plymouth off the bottom of the Championship. Plymouth’s outstanding performance will go down as one of the FA Cup’s biggest upsets under the current circumstances.
