League Two side Fleetwood Town knocked Premier League champions Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, winning 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Highbury Stadium. Aaron Loupalo-Bi gave the hosts a first-half lead, Viktor Gyökeres equalised early in the second half, and 16-year-old Max Dowman was sent off five minutes from time before goalkeeper Jay Lynch saved Bruno Guimarães' penalty in the shootout.
Match facts
- Result: Fleetwood Town 1-1 Arsenal (half-time 1-0); Fleetwood Town won 5-3 on penalties
- Competition: Carabao Cup, fourth round
- Venue: Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood (attendance 5,002)
- Scorers: Fleetwood Town - Loupalo-Bi 21'; Arsenal - Gyökeres 50'
- Red cards: Dowman (Arsenal) 85'
- Next: Liverpool v Arsenal, Premier League, Sunday 1 November (16:30 UK)
How the match unfolded
Mikel Arteta rotated heavily, handing a debut in goal to Illan Meslier and starting academy players Dowman, Marli Salmon and Ceadach O'Neill. The game was barely two minutes old when referee Michael Salisbury stopped play because a drone was hovering over the stadium. He spoke to both benches and was about to take the players off when the drone flew away, and play resumed after a delay of around eight minutes.
Fleetwood, sitting 18th in League Two and 84 places below Arsenal in the English pyramid, went ahead in the 21st minute. Loupalo-Bi, on loan from Fulham, ran on to a ball forward from Harrison Neal, got the better of Salmon and finished low past Meslier. Arsenal dominated the ball without finding a way through, and the hosts led 1-0 at the break after seven minutes of added time.
Arteta sent on Martin Ødegaard and Ben White at half-time, and Arsenal were level five minutes after the restart. O'Neill's low cross caused chaos in the Fleetwood area, and Gyökeres scrambled the ball over the line from close range as he went to ground. It was the Sweden striker's first goal of the season.
Arsenal pressed for a winner, bringing on Eberechi Eze, Ezri Konsa and Bruno Guimarães, but Fleetwood held firm. In the 85th minute Dowman kicked out at Neal after a heavy challenge, sparking a melee, and Salisbury showed the teenager a straight red card. Fleetwood substitute Andy Cannon was booked in the same flare-up. Lynch then made a fine late save from White's close-range shot to take the tie to penalties.
The shootout
The first seven kicks all went in: Ronan Coughlan, Neal, Will Davies and Cannon scored for Fleetwood, and Ødegaard, Kai Havertz and Gyökeres replied for Arsenal. Lynch then dived to his left to palm away Bruno Guimarães' effort, and centre-back Conor Haughey sent Meslier the wrong way to win it. Supporters poured onto the pitch, and BBC Sport reported that manager Matt Lawlor was in tears at full time.
Arsenal had 78% of possession, according to BBC Sport's match statistics.
What it means
Fleetwood reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, and the draw takes place after Wednesday's fourth-round ties. Arsenal's exit comes after a strong week, a 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich followed by a 2-0 home win over Everton that took them level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal now turn to Sunday's league trip to Liverpool.
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