Malik Waqar
Liverpool’s quest for a quadruple came to a crashing halt on Sunday as they were dumped out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 defeat by Championship strugglers Plymouth.Ryan Hardie scored the only goal from the penalty spot as Arne Slot was made to pay for resting his star names as he suffered just a fourth defeat in 38 games as Liverpool boss.
Plymouth sit rock bottom of the English second tier, but have now taken two Premier League scalps on their way into round five after winning at Brentford in round three.
“We all came here today with a dream and we have done it,” said Hardie.
Slot made 10 changes from the side that thrashed Tottenham 4-0 on Thursday to reach the League Cup final.Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo were among those left completely out the squad, but Liverpool still started with Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa in attack.
Yet, the Reds’ fringe players did little to make their case for more playing time as they succumbed to one of the FA Cup’s great shocks.
“We were not having a very good day. A result like this is the outcome,” said Slot.
“I can’t say the boys didn’t fight, both teams barely created a chance and then it was a penalty. In a game like this, it is up to one moment. That moment was for them and they deserve it.”
Hardie kept his cool to drill home the penalty after Harvey Elliott handled Darko Gyabi’s flick on 53 minutes.
Moments later it needed a fine save from Caoimhin Kelleher to deny Hardie a second.
Slot threw on Darwin Nunez to add more firepower to the forward line, but Plymouth stood strong thanks to a pair of stunning late saves from Connor Hazard. Jota’s strike that was headed for the top corner was clawed away by the Northern Ireland international before he tipped over Nunez’s header deep into nine minutes of stoppage time.
“I’m speechless, and normally they tell me I’m eloquent! It’s a big moment, day for us,” said Plymouth boss Miron Muslic, who replaced the sacked Wayne Rooney last month.
