Arne Slot had made a flawless start to his time as a manager in English football until he took his Liverpool team to one of the great outposts of our game to play an FA Cup fourth round tie at Home Park.
He had negotiated his succession to Jurgen Klopp with consummate skill and assurance, qualified them top of the new Champions League table and led them to the summit of the Premier League, where they are hot favourites to win the title.
But on Sunday, Slot made his first mistake. He underestimated Plymouth Argyle, who had only won once in the last three months and are bottom of the Championship, he underestimated the Green Army and he underestimated the enduring power of the FA Cup.
Slot made 10 changes to the side that breezed past Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-final last week and did not even include Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley, Dominik Szoboszlai or Cody Gakpo in his squad.
That left his bench dangerously threadbare and when a team made up of fringe players and promising kids from the academy struggled to cope with Plymouth’s physicality and skill or threaten their defence in any way, he did not have the reinforcements to make changes that mattered.
And when Plymouth took the lead with a second half penalty from Ryan Hardie, Liverpool could not force an equaliser. At a ground just a couple of miles from Plymouth Hoe, the home side possessed two central defenders, Maksym Talovierov and Nikola Katic who could have repelled the Spanish Armada all by themselves if they’d been around when Sir Francis Drake needed them.
Ryan Hardie (centre) scored the only goal of the game as Plymouth Argyle beat Liverpool
Hardie netted from the spot in the second half to seal a historic FA victory for his side
Hardie sent Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way to break the deadlock
Instead, they were content with repelling Liverpool. The centre halves, who hail from Ukraine and Bosnia respectively, were magnificent and heroic in the way they threw themselves at everything Liverpool hurled at them in the game’s later stages. They were ably abetted by goalkeeper Conor Hazard, who pulled off a series of astonishing saves in the dying minutes.
And so the team that many believe to be the best in world football this season fell to the men of Devon. It was the shock of the round, obviously. It will be the shock of the season. And even if Liverpool played a second team, it was another wonderful reminder of the beauty that this competition can conjure.
It is a long time since the top clubs picked their strongest XI for matches like this but the FA Cup is the competition that refuses to die even in the face of the way it has fallen down the elite’s list of priorities.
It was always clear that Slot’s team selection was going to be a gamble, particularly given the attitude of his opposite number, Plymouth head coach Miron Muslic, who clearly sensed possibility. “We are an underdog,’ Muslic said, ‘but we want to be a brave underdog.’
Roared on by the Green Army, Plymouth started strongly. Pumping the ball long to Mustapha Bundu and using pace down the flanks, they launched two swift counter-attacks that stretched Liverpool and needed last-ditch clearances.
Liverpool suffered a blow less than ten minutes into the game when their captain, Joe Gomez, who is only just back from a long injury lay-off, hurt himself as he made a clearance. Gomez knew immediately that something was wrong. He looked devastated as he walked to the touchline to be substituted.
Liverpool, not surprisingly, lacked their usual assurance and even though the Premier League leaders were dominating possession, Plymouth began to put them under some pressure late in the half.
Ten minutes before the interval, Bundu, who was winning a lot of aerial challenges, fell in a heap with Kostas Tsimikas in the box but referee Sam Barrott waved away appeals for a penalty.
The goal proved to be the winner with the Championship club pulling off a huge upset
Arne Slot’s hopes of winning a quadruple came to an end as he played a weakened XI
A few minutes later, Liverpool failed to clear a long throw and it bounced off a defender’s knee into the path of Darko Gyabi, who was 14 yards out. Gyabi blasted it back towards goal but it flew high over the crossbar.
Plymouth threatened again straight after half-time. Callum Wright escaped down the left and turned inside Isaac Mabaya on to his right foot. His fierce drive was on target until it was deflected by the head of Wataru Endo. It could have gone anywhere but it flew over the bar.
It felt as if a goal was coming. Seven minutes after the break, Gyabi attempted an overhead kick in the Liverpool area and it hit the outstretched arm of Harvey Elliott. It was a clear penalty and Ryan Hardie dispatched it emphatically past Caoimhin Kelleher, who dived the wrong way.
The goal forced Slot into action. He brought off Mabaya, who had been an early substitute for Gomez, and threw Darwin Nunez, who had been warming up meaningfully at half-time, into the fray. It felt like it might be his type of game.
No sooner had he come on, though, than Plymouth nearly doubled their lead. Nikola Katic, who had lost a tooth in the line of duty in the first half, rose superbly to head a free kick across goal. Hardie controlled it, spun and shot. Kelleher got a faint touch on it that turned it on to the post.
Liverpool pressed for an equaliser but Plymouth did not suffer their first real scare until two minutes from the end of normal time. Katic and Plymouth goalkeeper Conor Hazard both went for the same Liverpool long ball and when Katic headed it into the path of James McConnell, Hazard was stranded. McConnell took the ball down but smashed his shot just wide.
The Reds had plenty of chances to score but couldn’t make them count on the day
It was a day to remember for the home fans as they beat one of the best teams in the world
There were gasps of dismay when the fourth official’s board showed there would be nine minutes of added time and only a couple had elapsed when Hazard made a brilliant flying save from a snap shot by Diogo Jota.
In the dying seconds, Hazard made another fantastic save, tipping over a point-blank header from Nunez.
Kelleher stayed up for the resulting corner but when the ball came to him, he could only nod it tamely into the hands of the Plymouth keeper. Kelleher has grown used to being a cup hero in the past. This time, it was someone else’s turn.
