Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool edged League Two high-flyers Plymouth Argyle 1-0 in their FA Cup third round replay at Home Park on Wednesday.
The two sides had drawn 0-0 at Anfield on January 9 in what was a spirited performance from the Pilgrims, yet they fell behind just 18 minutes into the replay when Lucas headed home Philippe Coutinho’s corner.
However, the Reds were unable to press home their advantage, and almost conceded midway through the second period when Jake Jarvis’ spectacular scissor kick struck Loris Karius’ post.
Divock Origi missed a penalty as Klopp’s men attempted to finish off Derek Adams’ side, but in the end the one goal was enough to see Liverpool through to a fourth round clash with Wolves on January 28.
They will be joined in the last 32 by Southampton, who needed a late Shane Long goal to get past Championship outfit Norwich, and Newcastle United, who comfortably got the better of struggling Birmingham, who have now gone seven games without a win since Gianfranco Zola took over last month.
In what was an exciting evening of FA Cup action, many supporters took to Twitter to express their views on the matches, with many Liverpool fans focusing on the win rather than their side’s performance at Home Park…
Not a vintage performance but a wins a win, onto the next round #LFC
— Calum (@CalumAnderson__) January 18, 2017
I can't believe people are moaning about the performance tonight. FA Cup replay against Plymouth? It was all about the result! End of.#LFC
— LFC Dagger (@lfc_dagger) January 19, 2017
First win of 2017 feels good though, even with that dull performance. #lfc
— Maxi (@MaaxiAngelo) January 18, 2017
The performance was okay tonight. The most important thing was that we got through and we did so bring on Wolves! #LFC
— Lauren 💛 (@TheFirminoShow) January 19, 2017
Some fans praised the display of young full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who of course impressed in their draw with Manchester United last weekend…
Good to see some of the young players step up tonight, Alexander Arnold was brilliant! #LFC
— Niall McGuinness (@NiallM13) January 18, 2017
Not a great performance tonight but result was important thing! @trentaa98 brilliant again, a few crucial interventions! Huge prospect! #LFC
— Ciaran McKenna (@ciaranmckenna7) January 18, 2017
While many Plymouth supporters went home proud of their side’s efforts against a Premier League title contender…
Brilliant performance from the boys tonight. Proud to be a pilgrim. #pafc
— Luke Hosken (@luke1244hosken) January 19, 2017
Such a shame that the only time Liverpool beat us in 180 mins was from us switching off at a corner. Proud of my club. #pafc
— Lewis (@LewisAtherton99) January 19, 2017
Proud of my club tonight, one dodgy set piece goal in 180 minutes, outsung Liverpool home and away, sell out night, up the Argyle! #pafc
— Ollie Pope (@Ollieargyle9) January 18, 2017
Southampton scrapped past Norwich to reach round four, with many Saints fans trying to focus on the positives despite another below-par display from their side…
https://twitter.com/tcouzens1/status/821971376491941888
Don't let the goal take away from another truly dire #saintsfc performance
— a.d.z (@SFC_Adam_) January 18, 2017
Poor performance but a win is a win. If we played like that in a cup final with the same result, nobody would complain! #WeMarchOn #SaintsFC
— Rob Price (@SaintRobinho86) January 18, 2017
While several Norwich fans remain unsure about what the future holds for manager Alex Neil after a woeful run of form…
https://twitter.com/Neil73B/status/821842613447913472
Not even angry at Alex Neil anymore, just feel sorry that he hasn't been put out of his misery anymore. What a mess #NCFC
— Jack Reeve (@JackReeveTNC) January 18, 2017
It's like Neil wants to purposely be sacked for a 2 million payoff anyone thought of that. I wouldn't care who I upset for that money #ncfc
— Chris (@CTSNcfc) January 18, 2017
Meanwhile, there’s a feel-good factor at Newcastle, who breezed past Birmingham 3-1 at St James’ Park…
Into the next round. Decent performance. Few debut lads. Shelvey back. Rafa is our manager. All is rosy at #NUFC at the moment. Keep going!
— Ryan (@_RyanBatey) January 18, 2017
Very happy with that performance and great to see Shelvey back #NUFC
— Robbie McMullen (@RobbieMac90) January 18, 2017
But the same cannot be said of Birmingham and their manager Zola, who has failed to win any of his opening seven matches in charge…
https://twitter.com/bcfcjames/status/821864235298910208
I'm all for getting behind Zola as we really have to for now but Saturday is a must win imo #bcfc
— Conor Keane (@conorkeane21) January 18, 2017
@BCFC Zola – 7 games, 3 draws, 4 defeats. Congratulations the board of #bcfc on making the worst decision of the season by any club so far!
— Andy edgington (@the_edge1990) January 18, 2017