Morgan Whittaker scored a superb 82nd minute goal as Plymouth Argyle clinched a long-awaited first away win of the season by dumping Premier League club Brentford out of the FA Cup.
There were wild scenes of celebration after the final whistle at the Gtech Community Stadium as Kevin Nancekivell and Joe Edwards, in their final match of their temporary charge, took the acclaim of a 2,400-strong travelling Green Army.
New head coach Miron Muslic, who watched from the stands after being appointed on a three-and-a-year contract last night, must have been impressed not only with the defensive solidity of his new side but also the attacking threat they were able to come up with at times.
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That all led to Argyle clinching a memorable victory after Whittaker’s terrific left-foot finish when it was starting to appear as though extra-time would be required.
Championship survival is clearly the priority for Argyle going forward under Muslic but this FA Cup upset should do wonders for their confidence ahead of a vital run of three successive games at Home Park, starting against Oxford United on Tuesday.
Club record signing Michael Baidoo made his Argyle debut as one of four changes from the 0-0 Championship draw away to Stoke City. The 25-year-old led the attack as Kevin Nancekivell and Joe Edwards set the team up in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Also coming into the side were Callum Wright, who had served a three-match suspension after he was sent-off in the 4-0 Boxing Day defeat at Coventry City, Caleb Roberts and Victor Palsson.
It was Palsson’s first appearance since the Pilgrims lost 4-0 away to Bristol City on November 30 and he lined up in the centre of the defensive trio, with Julio Pleguezuelo and Brendan Galloway either side of him.
Adam Randell captained his hometown club while the nine substitutes included Poland international left-back Tymoteusz Puchacz, who had completed a loan move from German Bundlesliga club Holstein Kiel on Thursday.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank made six changes to his side from the 5-0 Premier League away win against Southampton. The five players retaining their places were Mads Roerslev, Sepp Van Den Berg, captain Mathias Jensen, Mikkel Damsgaard and Kevin Schade.
Given the disparity between Brentford’s excellent home record in the Premier League this season and Argyle’s dismal away results it was no surprise the bookies’ odds had the Bees as 1 / 8 favourites to win the third round tie while the visitors were 13/1.
Brentford patiently played the ball around in the early stages of the tie with Argyle stringing five across the back to try to contain their Premier League hosts.
The Pilgrims did threaten though when Matty Sorinola played an excellent through ball for Baidoo to run onto but his first touch was not quite good enough and he could not get a shot away.
Argyle goalkeeper Conor Hazard was called into action for the first time when he dived full length to push away a Fabio Carvalho strike from outside the penalty area.
The Bees then had penalty appeals after a challenge on Mikkel Damsgaard from Sorinola but referee Ben Toner allowed play to continue and there was no VAR to review the incident.
Hazard made another fine stop when Carvalho got in another powerful strike before Wright almost opened the scoring. He received the ball after a clever back heel from Bali Mumba and his angled shot was well saved, low to his left, by Hakon Valdimarsson.
Palsson sent a flicked near post header high and wide after a corner from Sorinola as Argyle continued to defend solidly while still posing an occasional threat going forward.
A good example of the Pilgrims’ resilience was an excellent tackle by Sorinola on Rico Henry which conceded a corner after the Brentford left-back had made a surging run into a dangerous crossing position.
Galloway made an important clearance at full stretch after a deep cross was headed inside by Mads Roerslev and then, moments later, the Zimbabwe international threw himself in the way of a shot from Yehor Yarmoliuk.
Hazard had made a couple of good saves when needed but generally Argyle had defended well and they would have been more than satisfied to go in at the interval at 0-0.
Argyle wing-back Bali Mumba is closed down by Brentford’s Mads Roerslev during the FA Cup third round tie at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, January 11, 2025 – Photo: Alan Stanford/PPAUK
The Pilgrims came up with a very good attack from deep inside their half early in the second period, which ended with Mumba playing the ball forward to Wright and Baidoo could not quite get on the end of his low cross as Valdimarsson pushed it away.
As in the first half, Brentford had more of the ball than Argyle but they did little with that and Argyle always posed the occasional threat, such as when Whittaker whipped in a terrific cross towards Wright which Roerslev did superbly to head away at the last moment for a corner.
Baidoo’s debut came to an end on the hour mark when he was replaced by the fit-again Mustapha Bundu, who had not played since he suffered a hamstring injury in the Boxing Day defeat away to Coventry.
Argyle then had an excellent chance to open the scoring when Wright put in a great cross from wide out on the left and Sorinola, arriving late in the box, headed the ball over the bar.
The Pilgrims’ captain Adam Randell then came up with a vital block as a shot from Brentford substitute Yoane Wissa was deflected wide for a corner.
Randell and Galloway were replaced by Darko Gyabi and debutant Tymoteusz Puchacz in the 80th minute before Argyle opened the scoring a couple of minutes later.
Whittaker picked up the ball on the right and drifted inside across the top of the Brentford penalty area before beating Valdimarsson with a terrific low left-foot shot, at the end where the Green Army were watching from.
Nathanael Ogbeta was a late substitute for Wright as Nancekivell and Edwards tried to shore up the Pilgrims defensively for six minutes of added time and they continued to dig deep all the way until the final whistle and secured a famous victory.
ARGYLE: Conor Hazard; Julio Pleguezuelo, Victor Palsson, Brendan Galloway (Tymoteusz Puchacz 80 mins); Matty Sorinola, Adam Randell (Darko Gyabi 80 mins), Caleb Roberts, Bali Mumba; Morgan Whittaker, Callum Wright (Nathanel Ogbeta 90 +1 mins); Michael Baidoo (Mustapha Bundu 60 mins).
Substitutes: Dan Grimshaw, Kornel Szucs, Ibrahim Cissoko, Rami Al Hajj, Freddie Issaka.
BRENTFORD: Hakon Valdimarsson; Mads Roerslev, Kim Jo-Soo, Sepp Van Den Berg (Nathan Collins 70 mins), Rico Henry (Keane Lewis-Potter 64 mins); Mathias Jensen, Paris Maghoma (Yoane Wissa 70 mins), Yehor Yarmoliuk (Bryan Mbeumo 64 mins); Mikkel Damsgaard, Fabio Carvalho, Kevin Schade.
Substitutes: Mark Flekken, Jayden Meghoma, Yunus Konak, Tony Yogane, Benjamin Arthur.
REFEREE: Ben Toner
ATTENDANCE: 16,790 (2,457)
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