Plymouth Argyle 5-1 Millwall: Ryan Hardie scores twice as Pilgrims follow up FA Cup win over Liverpool with thumping home win

Miron Muslic's Plymouth backed up their FA Cup heroics by thrashing Millwall 5-1 and moving off the bottom of the Championship.

Ryan Hardie, who scored the winner in Sunday's cup shock against Premier League leaders Liverpool, bagged a brace as Argyle ended Millwall's five-match unbeaten run.

Joe Bryan's sixth-minute own goal started the rout while Mustapha Bundu and Nikola Katic were also on target for the hosts.

Argyle boss Muslic was forced to make three changes to the side which beat Liverpool and earned a fifth-round trip to Manchester City.

• Championship highlights | Table | Fixtures
• All you need to know - Streaming Sky Sports with NOW | Get Sky Sports
• Download the Sky Sports App to watch every Sky Sports+ game
• Live EFL on Sky Sports+ & how to watch | Get more EFL to your phone with WhatsApp

The changes did not seem to affect them as they swept into a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes.

The opener came when Callum Wright's cross from the left was turned into his own goal by Millwall defender Bryan.

Four minutes later Victor Palsson's throw-in from the right was initially headed clear by Mihailo Ivanovic but as home skipper Adam Randell went to head the ball, defender Casper De Norre fouled him and referee Jeremy Simpson pointed to the spot.

Hardie, who scored from the spot against Liverpool, made it three successful penalty conversions in three matches by thumping home past recalled Millwall number one Lukas Jensen

The in-form Lions roared back with Ivanovic's header from a corner forcing Conor Hazard to tip the ball over the top corner of his goal.

Millwall record signing Camiel Neghli forced a brilliant one-handed save from Hazard after 18 minutes with a thumping 25-yard shot which sent the home keeper full stretch.

Hardie came close to doubling his tally in the 41st minute with a thumping strike from the edge of the box which flew just past the post following recalled Jordan Houghton's defence-splitting pass.

Argyle went 3-0 up in the 53rd minute when Palsson headed forward to Bundu 12 yards out on the right side of the penalty box and the newly converted striker spun on the ball, losing marker Jake Cooper, before firing low and hard into the far corner.

Three minutes later, Hardie claimed his fifth goal in three games.

The Scottish striker latched on to a back pass from George Saville and sped past Cooper before side-footing home past Jensen again into the far corner.

Millwall grabbed a consolation in the 80th minute when Bryan converted a far post cross from substitute Femi Azeez with a first-time finish from close range.

Sunday's player of the match Katic added gloss to Argyle's win with a fifth goal in the 86th minute, scooping the ball in, on the floor, during a goalmouth scramble following a corner from the left by substitute Rami Al Hajj.

The managers

Plymouth's Miron Muslic:

"I knew it was going to be very difficult for us because everything was so emotional on Sunday.

"I think we - as staff - found the right balance to support the lads as best possible to enjoy this great achievement, a historical moment for us, but also on the other side not to forget that the daily bread is this competition and we have to collect points and we have to win games.

"That's why I'm very pleased and very proud also of tonight's performance and the win.

"The plan was to use this energy, to use this confidence from Liverpool from the first whistle tonight - if we could manage to do this we knew then that we can also create some troubled moments for Millwall knowing that Millwall is just defensively solid, five clean sheets over the last six games.

"We knew if we could put this structure back on the pitch, this intensity, we can create chances and we took advantage of it.

"We have been working on this new structure for the past three weeks and we are also getting solid and that's also very important in our situation.

"We have to work hard, very hard all the time. Remember it was only three weeks ago we lost 5-0 to Burnley here.

"Coming off the bottom is a signal, we have something else to build on."

Millwall's Alex Neil:

"I am bitterly disappointed. It couldn't have gone much worse for us to be honest.

"The goals we conceded, I didn't think Plymouth needed to do much to score.

"The first one we put in the net ourselves, the second one is a penalty which I didn't feel was a penalty. The third one was a header and we don't deal with the second ball. The fourth one we made a bad back pass and we put them through. It was basically a catalogue of errors throughout the match.

"If you look back at the last decade since I have been in the Championship, it is very rare that my team ever lose five goals. So that for me is bitterly disappointing as it is for the players.

"It is three points gone and we need to focus on what the next game looks like."

Win £250,000 with Super 6!

The £250,000 is up for grabs with Super 6, and as always it is completely free to play. Entries by 3pm Saturday.