Arne Slot’s decision to field a weakened team came back to haunt him, with Ryan Hardie’s second-half penalty sealing Plymouth’s epic upset and ending Liverpool’s quest for a quadruple at Home Park.
Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and Cody Gakpo were among the stars rested as Slot made 10 changes from the team that thrashed Tottenham 4-0 in the League Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday.
In a remarkably successful first season in charge of the Reds, it was a rare blunder by the former Feyenoord boss.
It was only the fourth time that a team top of the Premier League had been eliminated from the FA Cup by a lower division club.
“We were not having a very good day. A result like this is the outcome,” Slot said.
Masterminding a famous victory over Liverpool while fighting to haul Plymouth off the bottom of the Championship was no hardship for Argyle manager Miron Muslic, who was a refugee from war-torn Bosnia as a child.
Muslic - hired by Plymouth to replace the sacked Wayne Rooney in January - was forced to move to Austria aged nine after escaping his home town of Bihac after it fell under siege by Serbian forces in 1992.
Plymouth had already beaten Premier League side Brentford in the third round, but their victory against West Brom last weekend was their first in the league since November.
“I’m speechless, and normally they tell me I’m eloquent! It’s a big day for us,” said Muslic. “It’s a magical day. I told the lads in the locker room to enjoy it.”
In the circumstances, Plymouth’s superb performance will rank as one of the FA Cup’s greatest giant-killings.
Slot wore an exasperated expression that summed up Liverpool’s lethargy even before Darko Gyabi’s overhead kick was blocked by Harvey Elliott’s raised arm in the 54th minute.
It was a clear penalty and Hardie kept his composure to send Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way from the spot.
Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez were denied by fine saves from Conor Hazard in stoppage-time as Home Park erupted in celebration of an astonishing result.
Pressure mounts on Postecoglou
Fresh from their thrashing at Anfield to exit the League Cup on Thursday, another chance at ending Spurs’ long wait for silverware went awry for the under-fire Postecoglou.
The writing was on the wall for the visitors after just one minute when goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky let Jacob Ramsey’s shot through his grasp.
Son Heung-min missed a huge chance to level for an injury-ravaged Tottenham when he was denied by Emiliano Martinez before half-time.
Morgan Rogers sealed Spurs’ fate when he blasted in from close range 25 minutes from time.
Villa could then afford the luxury of introducing Marcus Rashford for his first appearance since completing a loan move from Manchester United.
But it was another January signing who made an impressive impact off the bench as Mathys Tel produced a deft finish for his first Tottenham goal in stoppage time.
The consolation was too little, too late for Spurs on the night and potentially for Postecoglou to hold onto his job.
Without a trophy since 2008, Tottenham sit 14th in the Premier League and now have only Europa League glory to play for this season.
“Nothing really changes,” said Postecoglou on his future.
“There’ll be an opportunity to recover now and get some players back over the next couple of weeks. We look forward to resetting and finishing the season strong.”
Wolves cruised into the fifth round as two goals in the space of 39 seconds from Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha sealed a 2-0 win at second-tier Blackburn.
Chelsea crash
On Saturday, Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma sent Chelsea crashing out of the FA Cup as the Japan star sealed a 2-1 win in the fourth round.
Chelsea haven’t won a domestic trophy since lifting the FA Cup in 2018 and their wait will go on for another season after they blew the lead at the Amex Stadium.
Enzo Maresca’s side were gifted the lead in the fifth minute when Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen fumbled Cole Palmer’s cross into his own net.
It was a horrendous mistake but Chelsea failed to press home their advantage.
Thrashed 7-0 at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last weekend, Brighton bounced back impressively from the second worst defeat in the club’s 123-year history.
They equalised in the 12th minute as Joel Veltman’s cross reached Georginio Rutter, who found space between Chelsea defenders Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo to flick a header into the far corner.
And Brighton completed their fightback in the 57th minute when Mitoma clipped a deft finish past Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez despite the visitors’ claim for handball.
“I think the handball is quite clear. Without VAR it’s complicated,” Maresca said.
“The second half the only shots they had we conceded a goal from. We had a few chances at 2-1. But you have to take the consequence of the result.”
Manchester City were rocked by Leyton Orient when Jamie Donley’s long-range effort came back off the bar and rebounded in off City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to give Orient an early lead.
The English champions finally drew level after 56 minutes when Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov deflected in Rico Lewis’s shot for his first goal since signing for City from Lens in the January transfer window.
City boss Pep Guardiola had to turn to his bench more than he would have liked just four days before a mammoth Champions League play-off round first leg against Real Madrid.
But the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne made the difference as the Belgian midfielder scored 11 minutes from time.
“It was a typical FA Cup game, that is why this competition is unbelievable. For the fans, how the crowd support and we knew they are strong,” said Guardiola, who saw deadline day signing Nico Gonzalez hobble off injured in the first half of his debut.
Southampton stunned
Newcastle came from behind to win 3-2 against Birmingham at St Andrew’s.
Birmingham led after 42 seconds through Ethan Laird’s deflected strike.
A quickfire double from Joe Willock and Callum Wilson turned the tie in Newcastle’s favour, but Tomoki Iwata’s blistering strike levelled before half-time for the League One leaders.
Newcastle, though, rounded off a fine week after reaching the League Cup final on Wednesday as Willock restored their lead on 82 minutes.
Bottom of the Premier League and seemingly destined for relegation, Southampton got no respite in the FA Cup as Burnley won 1-0 at St Mary’s.
Scott Parker’s team went in front after 77 minutes when Marcus Edwards scored from close range on his debut after signing on loan from Sporting Lisbon.
It is almost 600 minutes since Championship promotion chasers Burnley last conceded a goal, with 10 clean sheets in their last 11 games.