Soccer

Stunned Liverpool sent crashing out of FA Cup in major upset at Plymouth

Second-half penalty sees toothless and under-strength Premier League leaders beaten

Liverpool's James McConnell (left) reacts to a missed chance during the FA Cup fourth round match at Home Park, Plymouth. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
Liverpool's James McConnell (left) reacts to a missed chance during the FA Cup fourth round match at Home Park, Plymouth. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
Jonathan Liew at Home Park
Sun Feb 09 2025 - 17:59
FA Cup, fourth round: Plymouth Argyle 1 Liverpool 0

And on this whistle, unleash chaos. Nobody really knows how Plymouth Argyle managed to survive those nine minutes of injury time at the end of this cup tie, those minutes when hearts were pounding and nerves were shredding and the thing felt so elusive and so close all at once.

Just as nobody had really seen this coming: the team rooted to the foot of the Championship, hosting perhaps the best team in the world right now, and sending them spectacularly to the canvas. Ryan Hardie’s penalty early in the second half was the difference between the sides.

Even then, nobody really believed. But as those nine minutes ticked away, one of the greatest shocks in the modern history of the FA Cup was finally within grasp.

And then the chaos. Home Park lifted off its hinges, a roar that carried all the way across the Riviera, a mess of limbs and lungs, memories that will last a lifetime. On the touchline, Arne Slot magnanimously shook the hand of Miron Muslic, the man who had just orchestrated this unlikeliest of underdog triumphs.

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For Slot and his players there will be pressing questions to answer about selection and application, a weakened line-up that should still have got the job done. Instead Liverpool played like exactly what they were: a team that had barely played together before. For a team that is basically built on chemistry, understanding instincts honed and shared, this is a bigger problem than it would be somewhere else.

Luis Díaz and Diogo Jota struggled for rhythm against a rugged Plymouth back five. Federico Chiesa looked lost on the right wing. An early injury to Joe Gomez was suboptimal. Darwin Núñez offered little off the bench. And with the senior players rested, there was little firepower to add once the first wave had failed so comprehensively.

And all the while, the hills were alive with the sound of Muslic. The new Plymouth coach may only have been in the job for a month, but already he has infused the club with the vigour so lacking under his predecessor Wayne Rooney. There is a kind of alpha magnetism to the bearded Austrian, a coach who talks a lot about “courage” and “balls”, who looks like the sort of guy who will try and sell you a 12-part online course on how to unlock your inner wolf.

In football terms, this means resolve, gritted teeth, long balls, physicality, bodies on the line. New centre-half Maksym Talovyerov roared as he bodied Díaz and won a goal-kick. Nikola Katic, another new defender brought in from Zurich, lost a tooth in an early collision with a teammate. When informed about this on the touchline, Muslic laughed heartily.

And despite acquitting themselves well during a goalless and frankly quite boring first half, Plymouth still looked like a team short of confidence in front of goal.

Plymouth's Bosnian defender Nikola Katic dives to head the ball clear from the foot of Liverpool's Portuguese striker Diogo Jota. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images
Plymouth's Bosnian defender Nikola Katic dives to head the ball clear from the foot of Liverpool's Portuguese striker Diogo Jota. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

Until the 52nd minute, when the magnificent Darko Gyabi blindly hooked a cleared cross back into the area. Harvey Elliott tried to charge him down, the ball struck his raised arms, and Hardie – a forward boasting just three goals in 24 games this season – made no mistake.

An injury break allowed Slot some time to gather his players by the side of the pitch and dish out some truth bombs. In fact, he looked about as angry as we had ever seen him. Isaac Mabaya, the debutant who had replaced Gomez in the 11th minute, was pulled in the 58th for Núñez. Still Liverpool looked utterly disjointed.

Matthew Sorinola was heroic in the final stages, clearing and blocking and tackling Díaz just as he was about to bury a finish at the near post.

And for all the drama, Liverpool’s chances were actually quite few. James McConnell missed an open goal from 30 yards after Conor Hazard came for a long ball and was left stranded. Hazard beat away a ferocious shot from Jota. And then finally, in the 99th minute, with Caoimhín Kelleher up for a free-kick, Hazard saved brilliantly from Núñez.

Cue mayhem. And for Liverpool the inquest will continue for days: over Slot’s complacency, over the strength of Liverpool’s second-string, over whether this punctures the momentum they have spent a season immaculately building up.

For now, all that can wait. Plymouth are kings of the Cup.