FA Cup: Plymouth Argyle hope to kick on after making 'history' at Brentford

Plymouth Argyle, bottom of the Championship and without a win in 11 matches, probably braced themselves for the worst as they travelled to face Brentford in the FA Cup. Their Premier League opponents have been formidable at the Gtech Community Stadium, scoring 27 goals in 10 league home games, the most in the top flight this season.

On the other hand, Plymouth had not won an away game since April and had only scored three goals and conceded 35 in 14 league games on the road this season. However, in this match in west London, a resolute defensive display and a late winner from Morgan Whittaker with eight minutes remaining secured a shock victory for the struggling Championship side, giving their long-suffering fans something to celebrate.

The team's poor form led to the departure of former England and Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney on New Year's Eve. During Rooney's tenure, Plymouth had won only five and lost 15 of 25 games in all competitions, a win rate of just 20%. They went into this FA Cup tie with two draws under interim manager Kevin Nancekivell. Austrian, Miron Muslic, was appointed as the new head coach on Friday, but he could only watch from the stands against Brentford.

Therefore, few gave Plymouth any chance of competing with their opponents, let alone producing the biggest shock of the round. “No one gave Plymouth a chance,” said former England goalkeeper Rob Green on BBC Radio 5 Live. “The way they celebrated tells me they didn’t have much hope themselves, but it gives them a massive boost. It’s a story, and the FA Cup is all about stories. It’s a great one.”

Brentford, who were without Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, who have scored 23 league goals between them this season, started with Danish international Mikkel Damsgaard, who has seven assists this season, along with other key players like Zanka, Kevin Schade and Mads Roerslev. Plymouth matched them and barely gave the home side a sniff, having recovered from an early wobble when they allowed Fabio Carvalho a couple of shooting opportunities.

“The plan this week was to be defensively organised, hold our shape, come to a Premier League team, make it as difficult as we can and show some quality when we had the ball,” interim coach Nancekivell said after the game. His players executed that plan to perfection and even after Thomas Frank brought on Mbeumo, Wissa and Keane Lewis-Potter, they remained solid before Whittaker produced his moment of magic. The 24-year-old, who scored 20 goals last season, cut inside from the right and curled a low shot into the bottom corner with little pressure from the Brentford defence, sending the away fans into raptures.

“If we keep performing like that, there is no reason why we can’t stay in this league,” said Nancekivell, who will be part of Muslic’s coaching staff. “I’m proud of everyone and I’m delighted for the fans. It’s a big day for us. The FA Cup brings the romance, and we’ve added a little bit of history with that win.”

The defeat meant Brentford exited the FA Cup at the third round stage for the third season in a row, and they will now turn their attention back to the Premier League where they face champions Manchester City on Tuesday. “You can lose games, but you can also lose in a not so good way – and we lost in a not so good way, because we didn’t perform to our highest level,” said Frank. Meanwhile, Plymouth will await Sunday's draw to see who they will face in the fourth round, with match-winner Whittaker hoping to produce another shock next month. He would love to face Manchester United, who play Arsenal on Sunday.

“I think that’s what the FA Cup is all about. I think there’s always an upset and I think that’s what we were trying to be, and luckily it happened,” the Plymouth winger said. Asked who he would like to face in the next round, Whittaker said: “It’ll be a massive game. A big game at home.”