DOWNPATRICK goalkeeper Conor Hazard made two stunning saves in the closing stages of Plymouth Argyle’s incredible win over Liverpool on Sunday as the Pilgrims produced one of the all-time great FA Cup upsets.
Plymouth, who sit rock bottom of the EFL Championship, knocked out the Premier League leaders to book a spot in the fifth round of the competition.
In a scrappy affair, Ryan Hardie’s drilled penalty eight minutes after the half-time interval gave Plymouth a famous 1-0 win after a handball by Harvey Elliott.
Scotsman Hardie almost added a second minutes later when his low shot was turned onto the post by Liverpool keeper Kelleher.
Liverpool piled on the pressure in the closing stages but the Devon outfit put in a superb defensive effort, as the back three of Maksym Talovierov, Nikola Katic and Julio Pleguezuelo produced some immense performances.
Saul GAC clubman Hazard more than played his part, producing a wonderful stop from a Diego Jota volley before miraculously saving from Darwin Nunez’s header in stoppage time.
It’s a result that will go down as one of the best in Plymouth’s history with Austrian manager Miron Muslic, who replaced Wayne Rooney at the start of January, hailing the humbling of treble-chasing Liverpool as “the biggest moment so far” in his coaching career.
Speaking after the game, Hazard said: “This is why I came here (Plymouth). It is good to get confidence off this win.
“We did good with the defensive structure and everybody gave their 100 per cent. We did what the coach asked from us. That’s it.”
In the full article Jonathan revealed how he is feeling about the next round of the FA Cup.
