Pilgrim's Progress

Progress in 2 Cups

Plymouth Argyle have made progress in both the Champions League and FA Cup competitions.

A daunting trip to Camp Nou was as hard as expected, with Plymouth pushed back in the first half and, at times, hanging on, although they did manage to restrict Barcelona to a small number of shots.  As the match progressed, Barca became all the more desperate and reckless and, in the 79th minute, Lorenzo Battaglia put Plymouth 4-1 up on aggregate with a determined run from half way, following a Barca corner.  He confidently slotted past Ter Stegen, after which Barca seemed to collapse.

Battaglia Scores the Opener at Camp Nou

He made it two a few minutes later to make the tie look far more comfortable than it actually was. 

Plymouth advance to the semi-final, where they will meet Manchester City.

The strength of the Premier League was underlined by the semi-final line-up, with three of the four clubs coming from England.  As well as Plymouth meeting City, Arsenal will face Bayer Leverkusen in the other tie.  It helps that Plymouth have seen off the two Spanish giants, though.  We could easily therefore see an all-English final.

Speaking of Manchester City, the two sets of fans will be sick of the sight of each other at the end of this season, as they also met in the FA Cup semi-final.  City fans will be especially fed up as Plymouth beat City 3-2 after extra time in a breathless match.  The match finished 1-1 at the end of normal time, with a late City leveller from Nunes following an early Plymouth lead from Lucien Devaux.  Erling Haaland looked to have sealed it for City in the 103rd minute, but Hlozek equalised before the end of the first half of extra time, and Freddie Issaka pushed home a last-minute winner during a melee in the City box.

Plymouth will meet West Ham United in the final.

Avoiding Villa this time, I see. What a thrilling semi final win. Minutes from winning it 1-0, then conceding late and going behind at the end of the first half of extra time. Impressive to be able to bounce back from that, but I suppose the quick equalizer helped a lot! In fact, I've noticed that goals fly in rather easily in the first 3-5 minutes after a goal, in both ends actually. Goals are often scored 3-5 minutes apart, in my experience. This may increase the expectations for the upcoming Champions League games vs City!

Plymouth Retain Premier League Lead

Going into the final month and after their final two Premier League matches of April, in what has been a busy schedule, Argyle remain at the top of the Premier League despite dropping points, as Arsenal failed to take advantage of Plymouth’s stumbles.

Argyle had a good win over Everton, in between the Barcelona matches, but failed to take all the points at home against Liverpool.  Nico Schlotterbeck twice scored headers from corners to cancel out goals from Cherki and Battaglia.  An area of defending that Plymouth needs to work on.

Argyle therefore lead Arsenal by one point, albeit with a game in hand, and a vastly superior goal difference.  

In terms of the Premier League golden boot, Facundo Farias seems to be favourite, going into the last couple of matches.  His 27 goals puts him 3 ahead of Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus and 4 of Heung-Min Son; both of whom could expect to be aggrieved at not leading the chase with such impressive tallies.

Farias is way out in front in terms of overall goal involvements, on an impressive 44, and he is unlikely to be caught by his team-mates.

Argyle in Charge in Semi

Plymouth Argyle eventually took command of the Champions League semi-final tie, delivering a 5-3 victory over Manchester City at a pulsating Home Park.  It wasn’t without its scares, though, as City came from two down to take the lead when Jack Grealish scored in the 66th minute, to make it 3-2 to the Manchester side.

It came down to the intervention of Facundo Farias – who else – as he added two goals to his 19th minute strike, and substitute Freddie Issaka, as Argyle turned the match around in the closing stages.  The ever-lethal Farias scored a hat-trick as Argyle take a vital lead to the Etihad for the return tie.

3 days before this tie, a very different Argyle side took on Crystal Palace and very nearly lost control in the second half.  Cruising to a 4-0 lead by half-time through goals from academy youngsters Mikel Gomez and Pepe Escobar, Palace threatened a comeback after the break with two goals, as they got a stranglehold on possession.   They made life more comfortable when substitute left-winger Dan Ashton slotted home in the 84th minute, to enable the anxious crowd to relax.

What are odds on next match ending 5-4 to continue trend?

Great run and incredible results in the Champions League already overcoming 2 giants of Spain. Advantage Plymouth in The Semi Finals and seems everything is in their hands right now from retaining The Premier League title and reaching Champions League Final. Fantastic season so far

I echo @thurlow885 here, things going well, but goals flying in boths ends. Now that you're doing so well, even so quickly after being promoted to the top tier, perhaps you could 'afford' to sacrifice a bit of your attacking power to improve your defence. I know that a win is a win, but what separates the greatest managers from the rest might be their ever present desire to improve. Also in good times. And here is actually an area with quite some room for improvement, despite your otherwise magnificent results.

Some fantastic games for the fans lately. First the two against Barcelona they looked to be closer than the score suggests. Then the come back in extra time against City followed by City again on the CL. 

Improving the defense is the next step but for this season, let the fun continue and keep scoring goals! 

Just don't lose the CL final 5-3. 😉

Premier League Title Won

Plymouth fans reprised the ecstasy of winning the Premier League title last season, as the Pilgrims recorded back-to-back top-place finishes in the competition, although it wasn't without its worrying moments.

A hard-fought 1-1 draw against Arsenal kept Argyle 1 point ahead with a match in hand, ahead of the return match against Manchester City in the Champions League.

That match ended 2-2, sending Argyle through to their first ever Champions League final at their first attempt.  Kabore put City ahead, and only 5-4 behind in the tie, before Erick Sanchez made it even harder for the Pilgrims after being sent off for a bad tackle in the 39th minute.  Rayan Cherki equalised before Erling Haaland set up another grandstand finish, which was only made safe for Argyle with Battaglia's stoppage-time effort.

Having also qualified for the FA Cup final, Argyle had the chance to match the trebles won by Manchester United and Manchester City, and also add their own record, by becoming the first team in England to win the three major trophies at their first attempts – the Premier League last season, and in this season, the FA Cup in their first final in that competition, and the Champions League in their first year in that competition.

Bayer Leverkusen beat Arsenal in the other semi to set up a Germany-England clash:

Back in the league, the Pilgrims blew their match in hand over Arsenal, as a reserve side lost convincingly 3-0 against a Bournemouth side fighting to remain in the division.  It was made all the harder as Argyle were reduced to 9 men before half time, with centre-back Miranda sent off first with a straight red, followed on the cusp of half-time by youngster Pablo Escobar for a second yellow.   Academy goalkeeper Francisco Lopes saved a second-half penalty, otherwise the scoreline could have been even worse.

The season therefore boiled down to the last two matches, but Arsenal drew their 37th game and Argyle beat Spurs to effectively clinch the title.  It would have taken a massive goal difference swing in the last match to prevent them retaining the title, but an entertaining 4-3 win in the last match against Fulham, and Arsenal’s draw against Manchester United, saw Argyle retain the title by 5 points.

In the Premier League Golden Boot chase, Facundo Farias claimed stop spot with 29 goals, justifying Plymouth's outlay last summer on the player.  He beat Gabriel Jesus by 4 goals, despite playing in only half the matches that Jesus did.  It's frightening to think how many he could have got, had he played all the matches.

Only two matches remain, and they don't come much bigger.  The FA Cup final and the Champions League final.  History beckons.