Arteta left furious as Arsenal teenager Max Dowman sees red in Cup shock

The 16-year-old was dismissed late in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Fleetwood Town after reacting to a challenge from Harrison Neal, leaving the visitors to finish the fourth-round tie with ten men before losing 5-3 on penalties.

Neal slid into Dowman near the touchline, and the Arsenal winger appeared to kick out in response. Players from both teams converged as tempers flared, and referee Michael Salisbury showed Dowman a straight red card. The incident came with the score level after Viktor Gyökeres had cancelled out Aaron Loupalo-Bi’s opener.

As Dowman walked towards the tunnel, Mikel Arteta approached him and appeared to speak sternly to the youngster. The Arsenal manager did not offer a verdict on the dismissal immediately afterwards, saying he wanted to review the footage first.

“It's difficult to see on the cameras like that, so I prefer to watch it back properly and then I can assess the situation,” Arteta said when asked about the red card. Asked whether Dowman would learn from the episode, he replied: “Yeah, we'll learn from everything.”

Arteta was also asked what he said to the teenager as he left the pitch.

“Something that we discussed already before the match,” he said, without explaining further.

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said Dowman had little reason to complain about the decision based on what he saw.

“It was on the far side of the pitch, but from what we saw, Dowman can't have any complaints. Yes, there were a lot of challenges flying in thick and fast from both teams, and then, there was that moment when a huge challenge came in on him, but as I mentioned earlier, they happen so often.”

Osman said young players must expect opponents to target them physically as they develop.

“And you have to know, as a good player, people are going to try to kick you at times, and that's what happened.”

He added: “It was a poor reaction from him and you hope he learns and he learns quickly.”

Former Arsenal player Paul Merson also criticised Arteta’s apparent reaction to Dowman as the teenager left the pitch, telling Sky Sports: “This didn't look good to me at all. For me, I didn't like that.”

Dowman’s dismissal became one of the defining moments of a damaging evening for Arsenal. They had dominated possession and created numerous chances, but could not find a second goal before the shootout, where Bruno Guimarães missed and Fleetwood converted all five of their penalties.