Tete Yengi headed home a dramatic winner in the last minute of extra time as Livingston came back from two goals down to claim a 3-2 victory over Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup fifth round.
The Jags had taken a 2-0 lead through a first-half thunderbolt from Kerr McInroy and Aidan Fitzpatrick’s low near-post finish on the hour mark.
But Joel Nouble tapped home shortly after to pull a goal back for the Premiership strugglers and the striker then grabbed his second, firing home superbly from a tight angle to send the game to extra time.
Livingston had the better of the additional 30 minutes but the match looked to be heading for penalties until Yengi’s flicked header in the dying seconds completed the comeback to send the visitors into the quarter-finals.
Partick manager Kris Doolan made just one change from his side’s draw with Airdrieonians, as Ben Stanway replaced Scott Robinson, while Livingston made three changes, with Michael McGovern, Nouble and Stephen Kelly returning to the side.
It was the first time the two sides had met since 2018, when Livi defeated Thistle in the Premiership play-off final to gain promotion to the top flight.
Brian Graham had the first chance of note in the 10th minute, firing straight at McGovern before Dan Mackay’s shot deflected off Lewis Neilson and flew narrowly wide as the visitors looked to respond.
Neilson was then involved at the other end as the Jags took the lead in emphatic style in the 27th minute.
The centre-back carried the ball forward superbly before laying it off to McInroy, who unleashed a powerful low strike into the bottom right-hand corner from 25 yards.
Livingston lost Scott Pittman and Shaun Donnellan to injury but they thought they had equalised just before half-time as Yengi headed in Kelly’s corner at the near post but referee Nick Walsh had spotted a push.
Livingston had improved significantly after a slow start but they were soon facing an uphill task as Thistle doubled their lead around the hour mark.
Fitzpatrick, who had impressed throughout the match, jinked into the box and fired in a low near-post shot that squirmed beyond McGovern, who perhaps should have done better.
The 2-0 lead did not last long, however, as Livingston pulled a goal back five minutes later.
A deep Kelly corner was met at the far post by Ayo Obileye and although Jamie Sneddon pulled off a brilliant one-handed stop, Nouble was on hand to tap in from a couple of yards out.
Partick were then inches away from making the game safe with 15 minutes remaining as Tomi Adeloye’s shot from the edge of the box came back off the post.
That moment would prove pivotal as the clinical Nouble levelled the match with a brilliant goal minutes after.
After exchanging passes with Andrew Shinnie on the right wing, the striker drove inside before firing in off the woodwork from a tight angle with the outside of his boot to force extra time.
Livingston had the better of the extra-time period and Yengi and Bruce Anderson both forced strong saves from Jamie Sneddon in the second period.
The visitors completed the comeback in the dying seconds as Jamie Brandon crossed for Yengi, who headed in off the far post from six yards to seal the win and send Livingston through to the last eight.
'It will happen in a year, two years' - Ronaldo hints at retirement date
Cristiano Ronaldo says it will be one or two years before he retires from football as he aims to enjoy the end of his career.
The 39-year-old scored twice on Friday, including a stunning overhead kick, as Portugal cruised past Poland 5-1 in the Nations League, to clinch top spot of Group A1.
Overall, Ronaldo has now netted 910 times in his career, with 135 of those coming for Portugal, including five goals in five Nations League appearances this campaign.
Ronaldo has dropped hints in recent months though that his retirement is drawing closer, with his 40th birthday coming up in February, and he says his main goal is to enjoy playing football while he still can.
"Planning the retirement of football... It will happen in a year, two years, I don't know," Ronaldo said.
"I say honestly, it's not a joke, it's enjoying the moment, feeling that I'm enjoying football. Get up and go to training and to the game motivated.
"When I don't feel that, I'll step forward and say, 'I can't do it anymore.' It's an excellent career, I haven't felt it yet."
He was a standout once again for Portugal as he finished the match against Poland with a game-high 2.06 expected goals (xG), generated from five shots, the most of any player on the pitch.
Ronaldo hit the 900-goal mark in September, with many believing he would next be targeting 1,000 as another goal in his storied career.
The forward has scored 10 more goals since then but insisted he was not actively thinking about making it to four figures.
"If you ask me if I want to reach a thousand goals... It's normal to want it. But I don't think about it," he added.
"Think game by game. In three months, I will be 40 years old. It's about taking it easy and enjoying.
"That's what I've been doing, especially in the national team, which is where I like to play the most. I like to play for the national team, and I really enjoy coming here. Scoring goals and good performances helps too.
"Day by day. Enjoy goal after goal. Enjoy the moment. The thousand goals don't matter to me at all, honestly."
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
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