Liverpool’s FA Cup journey got here to an abrupt finish as they fell to a shock 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle on Sunday.
Arne Slot rotated his facet with the Merseyside derby in thoughts and was paid to pay as his disjointed facet fell effectively wanting the requirements anticipated of them. Ryan Hardie’s second-half penalty proved the distinction, sealing a well-known FA Cup upset for the Championship’s backside facet.
How the sport unfolded
Having made ten adjustments to his beginning lineup, Slot wouldn’t have been stunned by Liverpool’s disjointed begin to proceedings, with Joe Gomez’s early harm solely additional disrupting issues for the Reds. Plymouth had been completely happy to cede possession to their well-known guests, who discovered it onerous to interrupt them down.
Plymouth had been pissed off to not be awarded a penalty on the half-hour mark when Mustapha Bundu went to floor underneath strain from Kostas Tsimikas, however they had been undoubtedly the happier of the 2 sides when the half-time whistle sounded. James McConnell’s deflected strike from vary was the sport’s solely effort on track within the first half.
Seven minutes after the restart, Plymouth acquired the penalty they needed. Harvey Elliott jumped to dam a speculative move together with his arms raised excessive and was penalised for swatting the ball away. Up stepped Hardie to ship Caoimhin Kelleher the unsuitable manner.
Hardie struck the submit shortly after, earlier than Plymouth’s focus turned to defending. Your entire again line had been glorious and goalkeeper Conor Hazard performed his half with two improbable saves to disclaim Diogo Jota and Jarell Quansah deep into harm time as Plymouth held on for a memorable FA Cup upset.
This was clearly not the Liverpool facet that has taken each the Premier League and Champions League by storm this season, however there is no such thing as a iteration of the Reds that shouldn’t be in a position to make gentle work of a Plymouth facet scrapping for his or her lives on the very backside of England’s second tier.
The ahead line of Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz fell shockingly wanting expectations and managed little or no which could have aided their quest for extra minutes in Slot’s A-team.
Will probably be a studying curve for the children within the squad, who had been let down by the senior names who ought to have supplied way more.
With Wednesday’s Merseyside derby inching nearer, Slot made it clear he was prioritising Everton over Plymouth when his staff sheet emerged right here. Not solely had the boss gone younger, however he left many of the staff’s largest names at house.
Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley, Andy Robertson Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo all didn’t journey as Slot warned his reserve facet they need to have sufficient about them to get the job achieved.
That present of religion from Slot has now been punished as Liverpool’s quest for the quadruple involves an abrupt finish by the hands of a facet who’ve conceded 63 objectives in 30 Championship video games this season.
It was a depressing day for Joe Gomez, whose return from a hamstring harm lasted simply 9 minutes.
An ungainly clearance made it clear one thing was unsuitable with the versatile defender, who quickly sat himself on the bottom and knowledgeable the Liverpool bench that he might not proceed. With so many senior gamers left at house, it sparked a debut for younger Isaac Mabaya off the bench.
The Merseyside derby is developing on Wednesday, and whereas Gomez was by no means prone to begin, his absence places actual strain on Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate to remain wholesome till he returns.
Take a look at the participant scores from Plymouth 1-0 Liverpool right here.
