Holders Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup after losing 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round on Sunday after Kaoru Mitoma struck the winning goal in stoppage time.
In other fourth-round fixtures, Championship side Stoke beat fourth-tier Stevenage 3-1, while Wrexham – buoyed by their buyout by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – were taking on Sheffield United at home.
Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister is challenged by Ibrahima Konate, of Liverpool.Credit:Getty Images
In Brighton, Harvey Elliott put Liverpool ahead, but Lewis Dunk equalised just before halftime. The score stayed at 1-1 until Mitoma found the net in the 92nd minute.
It was the second time Brighton had defeated Liverpool in two weeks, having also beaten Juergen Klopp’s side 3-0 in the Premier League.
“Unbelievable ending. Sometimes you’ve got to win a game like that. We weren’t at our best today. Nowhere near it. But we ground it out against a top side and got the win,” Dunk told ITV Sport.
“We feel like we can beat anyone on our best days and we showed here we can beat them on our not-so-good days. We’ve got everything in our squad to keep pushing on and, hopefully, we can go further in the competition.”
The tie looked set for a replay when Brighton’s Solly March missed a golden opportunity to score in the 71st minute when he failed to beat Alisson from close range after Mitoma set him up with a brilliant low cross.
But Mitoma took things into his own hands, scoring a superb goal following a free kick as he controlled the ball on the half volley, dummied and rifled it home.
It was another disappointing result for Liverpool, who have struggled with form and injuries this season and are ninth in the Premier League standings.
“This season has been nowhere near good enough. At the start of the year, we wanted a fresh start but that hasn’t happened. We’ve been worse,” Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said.
“In the league, we haven’t been good enough and now we’re out of both cups,” he added.
Championship Stoke City progressed to the fifth round after beating fourth-tier Stevenage 3-1 as Jacob Brown scored an early goal followed by a stunning strike from Josh Laurent and a penalty by Lewis Baker.
Reuters
