Second-tier Plymouth sends Premier League table topper Liverpool crashing out of FA Cup in stunning fourth-round defeat
The Hindu
Liverpool upset by Plymouth in FA Cup, ending quadruple hopes, as Wolves and Villa secure wins in cup competitions.
Premier League leader Liverpool was knocked out of the FA Cup by second-tier struggler Plymouth after losing 1-0 in a stunning fourth-round upset on Sunday (February 9, 2025).
It ended any hopes of a quadruple of major trophies for Liverpool, which leads the Premier League by six points with a game in hand, finished top of the revamped first stage of the Champions League and has reached the English League Cup final.
Ryan Hardie's 53rd-minute penalty proved to be the winner for Plymouth, a club from the southwest of England which is in last place in the second-tier Championship and recently fired Wayne Rooney as its manager.
“We all came here today with a dream,” Hardie said, “and we have done it.”
Liverpool fielded a heavily rotated lineup, without stars like Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk who weren't even on the bench, but still had established internationals like Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota on the field in a frenetic ending to the game as Plymouth was forced to defend doggedly.
At the end of a nerve-shredding nine minutes of stoppage time, Plymouth goalkeeper Conor Hazard produced a stunning save to tip over a header from Nunez and then was in the right place to keep out another header — this time from Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher after he came up for a corner.
In the end, the crucial moment was when Harvey Elliott raised his hands to stop the ball going into the penalty area and the referee awarded a handball. Hardie composed himself and slotted his spot kick the opposite direction to where Kelleher dived.
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