Morgan Whittaker scored a late winner as Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle knocked Premier League Brentford out of the FA Cup in a third-round upset.
Morgan Whittaker struck a late winner as Plymouth Argyle knocked Premier League side Brentford out of the FA Cup. With the third-round tie still goalless 82 minutes in, Whittaker cut in from the right before planting a low left-foot drive into Hakon Valdimarsson's goal.Two Fabio Carvalho efforts inside the first 15 minutes, which were kept out by Argyle goalkeeper Conor Hazard, were the only shots on target from Thomas Frank's side.
Though Frank turned to his star forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa to break the deadlock from the bench, it was the visitors who found the all-important breakthrough. Wissa headed wide from close range late on but Plymouth held on during a nervy finish as Brentford exited the FA Cup in the third round for the third consecutive season. The FA Cup has not been a happy hunting ground for Frank since his Brentford reign began in 2018. Their best run in the competition under the Danish manager came in his debut season when the then Championship side beat Oxford United and Barnet before losing to Swansea City in the fifth round. The Bees failed to clear the third round in their two most recent seasons, losing to West Ham in 2022-23 and Wolves - after extra-time - in a replay last time around. But Frank would have had his hopes up after being drawn against a Plymouth side who have shipped 35 goals in 14 away matches in the Championship - the most by a team across the top four leagues in England. Brentford, on the other hand, have scored the most goals at home in the Premier League this season but never got going. They had begun brightly as Carvalho, returning after a two-game injury absence, forced a full-stretch save out of Hazard from 22 yards early on before testing the Plymouth keeper again from a corner in the 15th minute. But Plymouth, under interim coach Kevin Nancekivell, grew into the game as the half progressed and Callum Wright almost pulled them ahead in the 18th minute as he produced a good save from Valdimarsson. There were further warning signs for Frank's side as Matthew Sorinola passed up a gilt-edged chance 20 minutes after the restart, heading over from in front of the goal before they punished a sloppy Brentford. While it is another early exit from the FA Cup for the Premier League side, Plymouth book their place in the fourth round for the fourth time in the past five seasons. And Austrian coach Muslic will hope to build on the momentum as they look to survive in the second tier, starting with the visit of Oxford on Tuesday.After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users
FA Cup Plymouth Argyle Brentford Morgan Whittaker Third Round Upset
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