Fleetwood Knock Arsenal Out of Carabao Cup on Penalties

League Two side Fleetwood Town knocked Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup on penalties in the fourth round at Highbury Stadium. Conor Haughey sent the ball into the top corner to settle the shootout, after goalkeeper Jay Lynch had saved from Bruno Guimarães.

Aaron Loupalo-Bi and Viktor Gyökeres scored in normal time. Arsenal were the dominant side but could not find a winner. Fleetwood manager Matt Lawlor was almost in tears when the shootout ended.

A youngster exposed, a drone, a red card

Mikel Arteta had given several youngsters a chance. Loupalo-Bi, on loan from Fulham, used his body to hold off 17-year-old Marli Salmon, spun and slotted the ball under Illan Meslier. By then play had already been halted for six minutes because a drone was flying above the pitch. Referee Michael Salisbury took the players to the sidelines while police searched for the culprit outside the ground.

Arsenal struggled to create anything in the first half. Kai Havertz missed their best chance to equalise before the break, sending a header wide. Martin Ødegaard came on after the interval, and Gyökeres bundled in the equaliser.

Teenager Max Dowman was sent off for reacting to Fleetwood's Harrison Neal. Arteta spoke to him on the way off. Asked what he had said, Arteta replied: "Something that we discussed already before the match."

Ben White and Gyökeres both had late chances to win it in normal time. Lynch made two saves to take the game to penalties.

The people behind the result

Lawlor was not a football manager a year ago. He never played professionally and began his coaching career with the Manchester United Foundation. Lynch spent much of his early career in non-league football. Arsenal narrowly lost the Champions League final in the spring.

Fleetwood had been aiming to earn £400,000 from the night.

Source: The Guardian