FA Cup
Brighton strike late to knock holders Liverpool out of FA Cup
Holders Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup after losing 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round on Sunday as Kaoru Mitoma struck the winning goal in stoppage time.
Harvey Elliott put Liverpool ahead, Lewis Dunk equalised before halftime and the score stayed at 1-1 until Mitoma found the net in the 92nd minute with a fine finish.
It was the second time Brighton defeated Liverpool in two weeks, having also beaten Juergen Klopp’s side 3-0 in the Premier League.
“Unbelievable ending. Sometimes you’ve got to win a game like that. We weren’t at our best today. Nowhere near it. But we ground it out against a top side and got the win,” Dunk told ITV Sport.
“We feel like we can beat anyone on our best days and we showed here we can beat them on our not-so-good days. We’ve got everything in our squad to keep pushing on and hopefully we can go further in the competition.”
Earlier, Liverpool’s teenage midfielder Elliott put them ahead in the 30th minute with a low shot into the far corner following a clever pass from Mohamed Salah.
Brighton equalised nine minutes later when Dunk got a flick on a long-range effort from Tariq Lamptey which deflected into the goal, with goalkeeper Alisson Becker wrong-footed.
Elliott, who also scored in Liverpool’s win in the third- round replay, could have made it 2-1 before halftime as he latched on to Cody Gakpo’s pass but Lamptey made a superb last-ditch tackle.
Liverpool had another chance on the hour mark when Salah connected with a wonderful pass from James Milner but the Egypt forward chose to whip in a cross instead of taking a shot and Brighton keeper Jason Steele easily blocked it.
The tie looked set for a replay when Brighton’s Solly March missed a golden opportunity to score in the 71st minute when he failed to beat the onrushing Alisson from close range after Mitoma set him up with a brilliant low cross.
But Mitoma took things into his own hands, scoring a superb goal following a free kick as he controlled the ball on the half volley, dummied and rifled it home.
It was another disappointing result for Liverpool who have struggled with form and injuries this season and are ninth in the Premier League standings.
“This season has been nowhere near good enough. At the start of the year, we wanted a fresh start but that hasn’t happened. We’ve been worse,” Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said.
“In the league, we haven’t been good enough and now we’re out of both cups,” he added.
Championship Stoke City progressed to the fifth round after beating fourth-tier Stevenage 3-1 as Jacob Brown scored an early goal followed by a stunning strike from Josh Laurent and a penalty by Lewis Baker.
Later on Sunday, fifth-tier Welsh club Wrexham, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, host Sheffield United.
– Reuters
The first weekend of semi-automated offside decisions in English soccer descended into confusion on Saturday as Bournemouth had a goal ruled out after a record eight-minute VAR check.
Bournemouth, who eventually beat Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers on penalties in the FA Cup fifth round after a 1-1 draw, thought they had doubled their lead when defender Milos Kerkez scored in the 35th-minute goal.
However, new technology could not be used because the six-yard area was too crowded and VAR officials had to revert to manually drawing lines before disallowing the goal.
Fellow defender Dean Huijsen was adjudged to have been in an offside position as Kerkez’s effort brushed his shoulder before going in to the net.
The VAR check was further complicated as VAR officials Timothy Wood and Darren England also had to also examine the possibility of hand balls prior to the tight offside call.
Both sets of fans voiced their disapproval at the interminable wait, chanting “it’s not football any more” and “this is embarrassing”.
Referee Sam Barrott, who eventually announced the decision to the crowd via a microphone, had to explain to the respective managers and players what was happening during the delay.
-Reuters
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FA Cup giant-killers Plymouth Argyle drew Premier League champions Manchester City on Monday as the second-tier side’s fifth-round reward for a shock defeat of Liverpool at the weekend.
Holders Manchester United will host Fulham at Old Trafford in one of at least three all-Premier League clashes, with League Cup finalists Newcastle United at home to top-tier rivals Brighton & Hove Albion.
Bournemouth will host Wolverhampton Wanderers in another all-top-flight encounter.
Struggling Plymouth caused one of the great upsets of the FA Cup on Sunday when they beat a second-string Liverpool 1-0, ending the Premier League leaders’ hopes of a quartet of trophies this season.
The Pilgrims are bottom of the Championship but City, who reached the fifth round with a 2-1 win at third-tier Leyton Orient on Saturday after going behind early on, have been misfiring this season.
There will be a fourth all-Premier League clash if Nottingham Forest avoid trouble at League One (third tier) Exeter City on Tuesday, with Ipswich Town awaiting the winners.
Aston Villa, who ended Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes on Sunday, host second tier Cardiff City.
The fifth round matches will be played on the weekend of March 1 and 2.
Last 16 draw:
- Preston North End v Burnley
- Aston Villa v Cardiff City
- Doncaster Rovers or Crystal Palace v Millwall
- Manchester United v Fulham
- Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion
- Bournemouth v Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle
-Reuters
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A much-changed Liverpool were dumped out of the FA Cup by struggling second-tier side Plymouth Argyle, who pulled off a stunning 1-0 fourth-round win at Home Park on Sunday that put an end to the visitors’ hopes of a quadruple.
The hosts took the lead in the 53rd minute after they were awarded a penalty for a handball by midfielder Harvey Elliott and Ryan Hardie stepped up to send Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way.
Premier League leaders Liverpool were bereft of ideas and had just one shot on target in the opening half, with Plymouth keeper Conor Hazard making a diving save in the 36th minute to keep out James McConnell’s long-range shot.
Ahead of the Merseyside derby against Everton on Wednesday, Liverpool made wholesale changes with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Alexis Mac Allister among the big-names rested and left at home.
Liverpool, who were also forced into an early change when defender Joe Gomez went down injured, failed to create many chances in a scrappy encounter as Plymouth, who sit bottom of the second-tier Championship, gradually grew in confidence.
Arne Slot’s side switched gears after going down but Hazard proved to be the hero for Plymouth as the Northern Irishman brilliantly kept out Diogo Jota’s volley in added time, as well as a header from Darwin Nunez.
With Liverpool top of the Premier League, having strolled into the Champions League’s last 16 and reached the League Cup final, some fans and pundits had begun to speculate about a potential quadruple.
Plymouth’s remarkable victory, however, brought a shuddering halt to talk of clean sweep of silverware for Slot’s side, who had only lost three games all season, prior to Sunday.
Meanwhile, there was no surprise in the other FA Cup fourth-round tie with Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers beating second-tier Championship side Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Ewood Park.
There was little to separate the two teams in the opening minutes before Wolves hit Blackburn with two rapid-fire goals through midfielder Joao Gomes in the 33rd minute and seconds later via forward Matheus Cunha.
Blackburn defender Dominic Hyam had the ball in the back of the net in the 19th minute, but his celebrations were cut short when the linesman’s flag went up for offside.
-Reuters
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