Fourth-Tier Fleetwood Knock Out Arsenal on Penalties in Carabao Cup
Seven Lights
Fleetwood Town of League Two knocked out Arsenal 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw Tuesday at Highbury Stadium, eliminating the Premier League champions from the Carabao Cup fourth round in one of the greatest upsets in English football history.
The match began under a red haze of pyrotechnics and stopped after 57 seconds when referee Michael Salisbury spotted a drone above the ground; play was suspended for more than eight minutes while police searched for the operator. Aaron Loupalo-Bi, on loan from Fulham, put Fleetwood ahead in the 21st minute, spinning past 17-year-old defender Marli Salmon and slotting under goalkeeper Illan Meslier. Viktor Gyökeres equalized for Arsenal in the 50th.
Arsenal’s Max Dowman was sent off in the closing stages for a debatable second booking, per the match report, but the hosts could not force a winner in normal time. In the shootout, Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch — much of whose early career was in non-league football — saved from Bruno Guimarães, and Conor Haughey struck the deciding penalty into the top corner. “I just thought, I’m going to run up and smack it,” Haughey said. “I come from Belfast and if you don’t have confidence, you will get eaten up.”
The elimination ranks with Arsenal’s 1969 League Cup final loss to Swindon Town and their 2012 exit to Bradford City, then also of the fourth tier, the Yahoo Sports report noted. It was the more startling because Mikel Arteta fielded a side with first-team regulars including Gyökeres and Guimarães. The Cod Army earned about £400,000 from the night.
Fleetwood’s manager, Matt Lawlor, was almost in tears at the end. He was not a football manager a year ago, never played professionally and began his coaching career with the Manchester United Foundation. The Lancashire club, whose stadium shares the name of Arsenal’s former north London ground, advanced to the quarterfinals, whose ties are set for December.
Arsenal remain in the Champions League, having narrowly lost its final in the spring, and in contention in the Premier League. The defeat leaves Mikel Arteta’s side looking for answers before a week that brings league fixtures and European competition.