Arsenal suffered Carabao Cup humiliation as Fleetwood Town won their penalty shootout to knock the Premier League champions out of the competition
Arsenal lost to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup
Arsenal lost to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup
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Highbury Stadium was only supposed to evoke fond memories for Arsenal. Well not anymore.
Instead, some 242 miles northwest of N5, Fleetwood Town's aptly-named home played host to arguably the greatest League Cup upset in history.
The reigning kings of English football shrank on the Lancashire shore and were dumped out on spot-kicks by The Cod Army after 16-year-old gem Max Dowman saw red just moments from time.
Bruno Guimaraes then fluffed his penalty, saved by goalkeeper Jay Lynch before Conor Haughey smashed in the winner to send Fleetwood through and spark a pitch invasion.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi broke the deadlock for Fleetwood before Viktor Gyokeres equalised. However, the 10-man visitors could not grab a second and had to settle for penalties after two top stoppage-time saves from Jay Lynch.
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The last time Arsenal faced League Two opposition away in the League Cup, Mikel Arteta was an unused sub as the Gunners were embarrassingly defeated on penalties in the quarter-finals by Bradford City in December 2012.
The Spaniard had no intention of taking the Cod Army lightly – even if 84 places separated the two sides in the English football pyramid.
With a blockbuster trip to Anfield on the horizon on Sunday, Arteta made nine changes to the side that comfortably saw off Everton and insisted that several big guns – including captain Martin Odegaard and marquee summer signings Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa – travelled to bolster the bench.
The likes of David Raya, Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino all stayed behind.
But when Fulham loanee Loupalo-Bi fired the hosts ahead, Arteta must have been wishing he had brought the whole cavalry. A bizarre early eight-minute drone delay disrupted Arsenal, though Piero Hincapie and Dowman squandered golden openings for the Premier League champions before Loupalo-Bi made them pay.
The Lambeth-born attacker, 20, held off Marli Salmon before rifling in under the body of helpless debutant goalkeeper Illan Meslier. That should have awoken the beast within the Gunners, but they were so wasteful in the final third. Every miss was celebrated like a goal by the home crowd.
Gyokeres had run the ball out of play just before the interval, typifying Arsenal’s frustration. However, he responded by levelling things up with a scrappy finish after bright wing play from teenager Ceadach O’Neill.
This was supposed to be a night when the Swede staked his claim for a regular starting berth, but both he and fellow forward Kai Havertz were so poor, particularly around the penalty box, it’s now anybody’s guess who starts against Liverpool. According to Transfermarkt records, the £1.15billion difference in value between the two clubs’ squads was the biggest gap ever between two League Cup opponents.
Those numbers made Arsenal’s struggles and failure to win duels all the more damning. If any of Arteta’s fringe players had been deliberating knocking on their manager’s door to question their lack of minutes in recent weeks, they had better park that thought.