FA Cup stunner as Liverpool get beaten by Plymouth

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FA Cup stunner as Liverpool get beaten by Plymouth

All-conquering Liverpool have been halted in their triumphant tracks by struggling second-division side Plymouth Argyle, who have knocked them out of the FA Cup with a stunning 1-0 fourth-round victory.

It ended any hopes of a quadruple of major trophies for Liverpool, who lead the Premier League by six points with a game in hand, finished top of the revamped first stage of the Champions League and have reached the League Cup final.

Ryan Hardie’s 53rd-minute penalty on Sunday proved the winner for Plymouth, a club from the south-west of England, who are in last place in the second-tier Championship and recently fired Wayne Rooney as their manager.

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 were 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.

There were fabulous scenes at the final whistle as Plymouth players hugged each other on the field and fans did the same in the stands at Home Park.

Liverpool are eight-time winners of the FA Cup, most recently in 2022.

Elsewhere, Brazilian players Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha scored in the space of two minutes to send Wolverhampton Wanderers through to the last 16 with a 2-0 win at Blackburn.

Gomes shot under the body of goalkeeper Balazs Toth to give Wolves the lead in the 33rd minute at Ewood Park, before Cunha — who recently signed a new contract with the team — drove home a low finish into the far corner a minute later.

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#Cup #stunner #Liverpool #beaten #Plymouth

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