Fleetwood Town, 18th in League Two, knocked Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, winning 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Highbury Stadium to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in the club’s history.
No reigning English champion had previously been eliminated from the competition by a fourth-tier side. Arsenal, who had been priced at long odds-on to go through, were beaten by a team that was playing non-league football as recently as 2012 and that sits two points above the League Two relegation places.
A Drone, Then a Goal
The tie was interrupted before it had properly started. Referee Michael Salisbury halted play in the second minute, just after Arsenal had won a free kick, having spotted a drone above the ground. The stoppage lasted around eight minutes, with Salisbury speaking to the stadium safety officer, both managers and several players before restarting once the drone had moved out of view. Some of the home supporters jeered the delay.
Fleetwood took the lead in the 21st minute through Aaron Loupalo-Bi, on loan from Fulham, who outmuscled 17-year-old Arsenal defender Marli Salmon and poked the ball past Illan Meslier.
Arsenal, missing Declan Rice, Gabriel and David Raya, were level five minutes into the second half. Cedach O’Neill, making his first start, created the opening and Viktor Gyokeres bundled it in from close range. Martin Odegaard had come on at the interval with his side a goal down.
Chances Spurned and a Red Card
Having equalised, Arsenal did not convert the control that followed. Kai Havertz was the chief culprit, missing several opportunities including two from close range in quick succession, and Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch denied both Ben White and Odegaard in stoppage time.
The visitors also finished with ten men. Max Dowman was sent off with around five minutes remaining for appearing to kick out at Harrison Neal, and was seen receiving a rebuke from Mikel Arteta as he left the pitch. Andy Hinchcliffe, commentating for Sky Sports, called the decision “really harsh.”
Mikel Arteta did not dispute the outcome afterwards, and was blunt about how it had felt.
“A really sad day,” the Arsenal manager said. He defended his players’ attitude, which he said could not be faulted, and pointed instead to the chances that went begging across the ninety minutes. Arsenal had plenty of possession and plenty of openings and took one of them, and as he put it, “football is about that.”
Nineteen-Year-Old Scores the Winner
Lynch saved from Bruno Guimaraes in the shootout, and Fleetwood converted all five of theirs. Conor Haughey, a 19-year-old centre-back, struck the decisive penalty into the top corner and sent the home supporters onto the pitch.
Arsenal’s choice of goalkeeper became part of the story. Meslier had been selected ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga, who has a reputation for saving spot-kicks, and he did not keep one out.
Matt Lawlor said the preparation had been non-existent.
“We haven’t practised once,” the Fleetwood manager said of penalties. He admitted he could scarcely believe the result, said his side had to “ride our luck” against the champions, and described it as the biggest night in the club’s history.
Haughey was more direct about what it proved. The win, he said, showed “how good this team are.”
Lynch pointed to a recent precedent for where the belief had come from, citing Grimsby Town’s elimination of Manchester United in last season’s competition as the example the dressing room had drawn on.
Where It Ranks
Paul Merson described the result as the biggest shock in the League Cup’s history, and the arithmetic supports the claim. Fleetwood were available at 15-1 with DraftKings to advance before kick-off.
It is not the first time Arsenal have been caught by a fourth-tier opponent in this competition. Bradford City beat them on penalties in the quarter-finals of the 2012-13 season, a result that has been a reference point for giant-killings ever since.
Arsenal return to league duty with their title defence unaffected but their squad depth exposed. Fleetwood, meanwhile, go into a quarter-final draw they have never before been part of, having spent most of the past decade in the bottom two divisions.
