Plymouth pull of late win as Brentford suffer exit
Morgan Whittaker struck a late winner as the Championship's bottom club 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 to send the Pilgrims through.
With Miron Muslic, named as the replacement for Wayne Rooney on Friday, watching on from the stands, Plymouth restricted the hosts to very few chances all game.
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.
Argyle add to Frank's cup woes
Plymouth Argyle are bottom of the Championship with only 20 points from 25 games
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.
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