FA Cup 4th-round winners and losers: Plymouth Argyle!

The FA Cup was back in action this Super Bowl weekend, and it featured the biggest upset of all. Let’s revisit all the action from the fourth round.

Winners from FA Cup 4th Round

Plymouth Argyle

The team at the bottom of the Championship must be wondering why all the powerhouses of Europe have had so much trouble beating Liverpool. The Pilgrims earned a famous victory at home over the team running away with the league title.

I should mention that Harvey Elliott looked like he was trying to block an NFL field goal when he gave away the penalty that Ryan Hardie converted for the game’s only goal, and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Conor Hazard made some great saves in stoppage time after Liverpool’s reserves failed to create much in the first 90 minutes.

Even if Argyle get relegated to English soccer’s third tier, their fans will still have this to talk about. Next they face a Manchester City team that just barely beat Leyton Orient. What reason do Argyle have to fear?

VAR technology

They don’t use it in the FA Cup to preserve the “magic of the cup” or some such nonsense. Thus, Newcastle tied the game against Birmingham City through a dodgy goal by Joe Willock that was awarded well after the referee’s initial decision that it hadn’t crossed the line. Even worse, Dominic Hyam was denied what would have been the opening goal in Blackburn’s loss to Wolves. Worst of all, Harry Maguire grabbed the winner for Manchester United against Leicester when the United captain was clearly offside as the free kick was taken.

Kaoru Mitoma

Yes, Brighton probably should have taken Al-Nassr’s $67 million transfer offer for the Japanese winger, because that’s just silly money. However, the Seagulls’ fans are probably happy he’s still on the team because his chip over Robert Sánchez gave his team a fantastic win over Chelsea.

Jamie Donley

The Leyton Orient player opened the scoring against Manchester City with a Carli Lloyd-like lob from near the halfway line. It officially goes down as an own goal because it ricocheted off the crossbar and the back of goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, but we recognize the left-footed striker creating that one.

Tomoki Iwata

It was in a losing cause, but the Birmingham midfielder scored in spectacular fashion when he thumped an unstoppable shot from outside the box into Newcastle’s goal.

Antoine Semenyo

The Bournemouth forward saved an Everton goal by clearing a shot off his line, but the kids will be imitating his penalty-kick technique. The Ghanaian pretended to walk away from the penalty spot before whirling around and belting the ball past Jordan Pickford. The England keeper had guessed the right spot where Semenyo was shooting, but the ball was placed so well that it didn’t matter. We have the Panenka penalty and we have the paradinha. This should be the Semenyo.

Marcus Edwards

Just loaned from Sporting Lisbon, the 26-year-old winger came off the bench to make his debut for Burnley and promptly scored the winning goal against Southampton. The Clarets are fighting for promotion to the Premier League next season, and they just upset a Premier League side, even if it was only Southampton.

Jonny Smith

The Wigan Athletic winger with the most anonymous name possible scored with a left-footed thunderbolt from outside the penalty box against Fulham.

Rodrigo Muniz

Alas, Smith’s goal wasn’t enough, because Fulham’s bleached blond Brazilian striker scored two against the Latics and powered the Cottagers to a win.

Ethan Horvath

Remember him? The American goalkeeper was a main character in Cardiff City’s win over Stoke City, as a terrific 3-3 game went to penalty kicks and Horvath saved a shot from Michael Rose to send the Bluebirds to the next round.

Jack Clarke

The Ipswich Town attacker had two goals (one on a great slaloming run through the opposing defense) and an assist in the Blues’ 4-1 win over Coventry City.

Mathys Tel

Spurs went through an interminable saga to get the forward on loan from Bayern Munich, but the French teenager showed why he was worth it with a late goal against Aston Villa that made the final few minutes interesting.

Justin Devenny

The Crystal Palace striker whiffed on an easy goal early in the second half against Doncaster, but made up for it with a glorious chip over goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe. Second chances are great.

Abdukodir Khusanov

He was trying to duck under Rico Lewis’ shot, but the ball hit him in the head and then bent past Dean Kiely for Manchester City’s first goal against Leyton Orient. It may well have been an accident, but after his dreadful start in England, the Kazakh defender will take any breaks he can get.

Losers from FA Cup 4th Round

Bart Verbruggen

The Brighton keeper got a mention in the losers’ section last week, and this week he made an even worse blunder when he fumbled Cole Palmer’s cross into his own net. We may see Jason Steele in goal for the Seagulls sooner rather than later.

James Tarkowski

Everton’s vice captain has been a solid addition to his team’s defense, but he had a first half to forget in the loss to Bournemouth, as he conceded the penalty that Semenyo converted and then gave the ball away to Daniel Jebbison for the Cherries’ second.

Sam Tickle

That’s the actual name of the Wigan Athletic goalkeeper. He lost to Fulham, but he makes this list because of his name.

Leeds United

The team that is currently leading the Championship lost handily at home to a Millwall side that’s well below them in the standings.

Tottenham Hotspur

Enough turnovers to open their own bakery on White Hart Lane, as Spurs manufactured one scoring chance after another for their opponents. Aston Villa will be kicking themselves for only tallying two goals during their win.

Preston North End

The Lilywhites survived a penalty shootout against Wycombe Wanderers to move on to the next round. So why are they in the losers section? The winning penalty was converted by Welsh striker Ched Evans, which reminds everyone that PNE employ a player who spent two and a half years in prison on a rape conviction. Here’s where I have to note that his conviction was overturned on appeal. I don’t have to note that he got it quashed in a particularly scummy way by convincing the appellate court that his teenage victim was a big old slut, but I’m happy to dredge that up.

League Two

With Doncaster’s loss to Crystal Palace, the last team from the fourth tier of English soccer goes out. We hardly knew ye, Accrington Stanley. So long, Colchester United. Good luck next year, Milton Keynes Dons. We’ll miss you.