Liverpool suffered their most humiliating knock-out as third division Peterborough marched gloriously into the quarter-finals of the Rumbelows Cup on the back of a glaring error by goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar.
Grobbelaar's 19th minute blunder gifted Garry Kimble, a free transfer signing from Gillingham, the decisive goal and a famous victory which ranks with Peterborough's 1965 FA Cup beating of Arsenal.
But Liverpool could easily have lost by an even more embarrassing margin as famed giantkillers Posh, in front of the disbelieving eyes of a 14,000 plus London Road crowd, bustled them into an amazing catalogue of errors.
Peterborough goalkeeper Fred Barber ran out for the game wearing a "mad professor" mask but it was his opposite number Grobbelaar who played the clown with his incredible mistake settling the tie.
He raced recklessly way out of goal for a Noel Luke cross in the 19th minute but only managed to flap it straight to Kimble who drove it into an empty net. That set the stage for Liverpool's first ever defeat in this competition by a third or fourth division club but within two minutes they could have been buried.
Defender David Robinson chipped just wide after Mark Wright could only charge down a Ken Charlery shot. Then Grobbelaar, sent the wrong way by a Steve Nicol deflection on Charlery's shot, sprang up from a sitting position to push the ball against the underside of the bar.
Robinson and central defence partner Steve Welsh played historic roles, preventing Dean Saunders and Steve McManaman hitting back but after that Peterborough grew in confidence and kept their illustrious visitors, unbeaten in the previous six games and seemingly emerging from their early season problems, at full stretch.
Liverpool had more of the game in the second half but found neither rhythm nor composure against the defence in which Robinson was a giant figure.
Peterborough, already the conquerors of Wimbledon and Newcastle in previous Rumbelows Cup rounds, made their mighty opponents look second rate and could easily have had more goals on the counter-attack when Gary Cooper and David Riley blasted clear chances too high.
Peterborough had to survive one last gasp escape before booking their place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1965 when Barber brilliantly saved from McManaman in injury time.
To make matters worse on a shambles of a night for Liverpool they also incurred bookings for Wright and Ray Houghton, both for dissent.
Graeme Souness, shattered by Liverpool's humiliating defeat, admitted: "They outfought us and outplayed us but we gifted them the goal. We played as though we didn't realise what was happening and thought we were in a Sunday game until the second half."
Peterborough manager Chris Turner stayed remarkably calm but said: "Although it hasn't sunk in yet it is obviously the highlight of my managerial career. Perhaps I still don't believe it and maybe the players think I am a miserable so-and-so. Maybe I will realise what we've done when I wake up tomorrow but I still rate Liverpool the premier team in the league. I told the lads to close them down for the first 20 minutes and not let them play the usual Liverpool way. In the end I thought we well deserved it and I don't really care what people say about our style. I thought we were good value."
Goal hero Kimble said: "After this I think we can go all the way and I mean that. We have beaten Liverpool, so what else is left?"
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