League Two side Fleetwood pulled off one of the biggest shocks in League Cup history, dumping Premier League champions Arsenal out of the competition on penalties.
After the fourth round tie at Highbury finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, the Cod Army won the ensuing shoot-out 5-3 to seal the most famous night in their history. Matt Lawlor’s side will now progress to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the first time.
It was a tie that captured the imagination in Fleetwood, with the stadium a sell-out for the visit of the reigning English champions. Mikel Arteta went strong with his starting line-up with a glut of internationals on show, including World Cup winner Martin Zubimendi.
But his star-studded team never got going and couldn’t contain a Fleetwood side sitting 84 rungs lower than them on the footballing ladder.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi slotted home the opener midway through the first half to stun the Gunners’ travelling support. A response came but it wasn’t good enough to breach the determined home defence in the first half as Fleetwood went in at the break a goal up.
Arsenal did draw level just after the restart, through Viktor Gyokeres, and many believed that would signal a straightforward romp for the away side but it never materialised. Dogged defending and sublime goalkeeping from Jay Lynch kept Arteta’s side at bay. A flashpoint then came five minutes from time when teenager Max Dowman was sent off for kicking out after a meaty challenge on him by Harrison Neal.
Two Lynch saves right at the death, from substitutes Ben White and Martin Odegaard, were key in forcing penalties. Then, in the shoot-out, Fleetwood were faultless as they scored all their five penalties with Lynch’s save to deny Bruno Guimaraes the difference-maker.
After Conor Haughey converted the winning kick, it sparked scenes of bedlam as jubilant home fans flooded the pitch.
A delighted Lawlor said afterwards: “To be a part of it is special. To be giving that to football fans, and especially Fleetwood fans, is unbelievably special. And yeah, something that I’m really proud of.
“That’s really special and really emotional. To do something that special early in my career as well, it’s an emotional night. It is emotional. Emotional for the players, emotional for me.”
Beaten boss Arteta said: “First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through in the next round, in the manner they’ve done it, the atmosphere they have created, and, yeah, a really sad day for us.
“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 capitalise on that. And we didn’t. And football is about that.”
