There will be no fairytale end to Steven Gerrard's Liverpool career after Aston Villa came from behind to deservedly book their place in the FA Cup final with a 2-1 win over the Reds.
Wembley was supposed to be the scene for Gerrard's grand send-off, with the final falling on his 35th birthday and supposedly destined to be the last game of his long Anfield career before embarking on a new challenge with Los Angeles Galaxy.
Instead the national stadium proved to be another venue where Liverpool came up short, just like last season at Anfield against Chelsea and Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace when their title challenge faltered.
It was a familiar foe who set the wheels of defeat in motion as rejuvenated Belgium striker Christian Benteke, who memorably terrorised Liverpool's defence with a two-goal show at Anfield in December 2012, cancelled out Philippe Coutinho's opener with his ninth goal in his last seven games.
Fabian Delph's strike 10 minutes into the second half booked Villa's first FA Cup final appearance since 2000 as Liverpool's pressure was too little and far too late.
It also secured the club's first win over Liverpool in the competition in eight meetings, dating back to an 1897 semi-final, when they went on to lift the trophy.
A bizarre own goal from West Ham's James Collins helped Manchester City back to winning ways in the Barclays Premier League.
Top scorer Sergio Aguero was also on target as the fallen champions, after a horrendous run of six defeats in eight games, claimed a welcome and routine 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Collins set them on their way when he contrived to lob goalkeeper Adrian when an attempted interception went wrong before Aguero added to the tally before half-time.
It was not enough to lift City back into the top three but at least increased the gap to fifth-placed Liverpool to seven points.
The result is also unlikely to alleviate the pressure on City manager Manuel Pellegrini much, but he could at least reflect on a satisfactory afternoon's work against a lacklustre West Ham.
The only obvious sour point was a serious-looking injury to David Silva, who was carried off on a stretcher with a head injury after a clash with Cheikhou Kouyate.
Harry Kane struck yet again as Tottenham beat Newcastle 3-1 to condemn the Magpies to a sixth successive league defeat and rekindle their own hopes of European qualification.
The England striker scored in stoppage time to cement victory at St James' Park - just Spurs' second win in five attempts - on a day when thousands of home fans stayed away in protest at owner Mike Ashley's tenure.
His effort came after Christian Eriksen has restored the visitors' lead minutes after Jack Colback had dragged Newcastle back into game by cancelling out Nacer Chadli's first-half opener.
Defeat left Newcastle just seven points clear of the bottom three and knowing they will have to change their fortunes markedly over the next few weeks if they are to avoid a tense conclusion to a forgettable campaign.