Fleetwood stun Arsenal on penalties in Carabao Cup

Fleetwood Town knocked the Premier League champions out of the Carabao Cup, winning 5-3 on penalties after Aaron Loupalo-Bi’s first-half goal and Viktor Gyökeres’ equaliser left the fourth-round tie level at 1-1.

Loupalo-Bi put Fleetwood ahead in the 21st minute, finishing after getting beyond Arsenal’s young defender Marli Salmon. Arsenal had plenty of possession and chances but struggled to turn their pressure into goals. Gyökeres levelled five minutes after the interval, bundling the ball home to give Mikel Arteta’s side a route back into the match.

Arsenal pushed for a winner, with Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch making important late saves, including denying Ben White and Martin Ødegaard in stoppage time. The visitors’ task became harder when 16-year-old Max Dowman was sent off in the closing stages. The match went straight to penalties, where Bruno Guimarães saw his attempt saved before Conor Haughey converted the winning kick for Fleetwood.

Arteta said he could not fault his players’ attitude but was disappointed that Arsenal had failed to make their dominance count.

“I cannot fault at all the attitude of the players. I haven't seen anyone not doing what is required at this level. But, obviously, we insisted so much, we have so much of the ball, so many chances, so many shots, and if you want the margins to be bigger than going to the penalties, obviously, you need to capitalize on that. And we didn't. And football is about that.”

The Arsenal manager added that the defeat was “a really sad day for us”, while insisting the result was not down to a lack of effort or determination. He said the team had produced enough to create a much bigger margin on the scoreboard.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Fleetwood manager Matt Lawlor described the victory as the biggest night in the club’s history in terms of the opposition they had welcomed to town.

“We knew before the game, we're not stupid enough and not egotistical enough that you think we're going to go to the best team in the country and the most organised team in the country and the best of the basics and the world-class players, in that we're going to go and outplay them. So we had to ride our luck, we had to deny space, we had to deny options for them.”

Lawlor felt his players executed that plan well, despite conceding after the break.

“I'm just so glad that the lads have the feeling the way they are and took that performance into make that town, the club, everyone proud.”

For Fleetwood, the shootout win capped a disciplined display and sent the League Two side into the quarter-finals. Arsenal leave the competition with Arteta lamenting missed chances and a defeat that the manager said would hurt, despite his players’ application.