By Plymouth Argyle produced a classic FA Cup giant-killing as the Championship’s bottom club stunned Premier League leaders Liverpool at a raucous Home Park.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot made 10 changes from the side that swept Tottenham aside to reach the Carabao Cup final – and paid the price as Plymouth made the most of the opportunity to secure a place in the fifth round.
A scrappy tie came to life eight minutes after the interval when Plymouth were awarded a penalty after Harvey Elliott’s handball, Ryan Hardie drilling home the spot-kick in emphatic fashion.
Hardie almost added a second shortly afterwards when his shot was turned on to the post by Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
The ball cannoned off Harvey Elliott’s arms, which were raised well above his head, inside the area and Ryan Hardie made no mistake from the penalty spot to give his side a deserved lead early in the second half. typesetting, remaining.
It was a disjointed performance from start to finish from Liverpool, who were not even boosted by the effervescent talents of Darwin Nunez off the bench.
The forward replaced debutant Isaac Mabaya shortly after the opener, 47 minutes into his debut having come on for the injured Joe Gomez. Despite his arrival, Liverpool continued to lack any real threat due to a combination of their poor attacking output and a stoic defensive performance from the likes of Maksym Talovierov and Nikola Katic.In fact, it took until the dying embers of the tie for the Reds to finally build on their lone shot on target, with the final figure coming in at three following two late saves from Conor Hazard to keep the clean sheet intact.
Today marked just the third time Liverpool have failed to score since Arne Slot took charge at Anfield. The other games arrived against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Plymouth now book their place in the fifth-round of England’s oldest club competition, while all attention for Slot and his players now turns to the Merseyside derby on Wednesday evening.
