Mikel Arteta refused to criticise Max Dowman for his red card during Arsenal's shock Carabao Cup exit.
The Gunners suffered one of the most humiliating nights in their history as they succumbed to a penalty shootout defeat to League Two Fleetwood Town.
Fleetwood Town player Conor Haughey celebrates Carabao Cup win over Arsenal6
Fans stormed the pitch at Highbury Stadium as Fleetwood produced one of the all-time shocks in the League Cup's history
Arsenal players line-up during penalty shootout against Fleetwood6
Arsenal haven't won the competition since 1993
Bruno Guimaraes' spot-kick was saved by Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch, allowing Conor Haughey to fire in the decisive penalty to seal a famous result for the Cod Army.
Fleetwood took the lead when Aaron Loupalo-Bi rolled young Arsenal defender Marli Salmon before slotting past Illan Meslier.
The Premier League champions responded through Viktor Gyokeres' scrappy finish early in the second half and controlled possession throughout but were unable to find a winner.
Arsenal's task at getting over the line when Max Dowman was sent off for a kick out after a crunching challenge on him by Harrison Neal.
Iconic European derby being shown live on free to air TV this weekendFans storm pitch as Arsenal stunned by Fleetwood in iconic Cupset after Dowman redFleetwood vs Arsenal stopped as drone flying over stadium sparks police interventionNew Max Dowman role could be bad news for £67m Arsenal star
After trudging off the pitch, Arteta made a comment to the 16-year-old, who then made his way down the tunnel to digest his disappointment.
Arteta was also seen staring at his player intensely as he went for the tunnel.
The Arsenal boss didn't give any indication about what he said to Dowman during that exchange and also didn't point the finger of blame at him.
Arteta tight lipped on Dowman
"First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through in the next round in the manner that they've done it, the atmosphere they've created" Arteta told Sky Sports.
"A very sad day for us. I cannot fault the attitude of the players, I haven't seen anyone not do what is required at this level.
"We had so much of the ball, so many chances, so many shots and if you want the margins to be bigger then you need to capitalise and we didn't. Football is about that."
Max Dowman sent off during Arsenal's Carabao Cup defeat against Fleetwood6
Dowman was dismissed after a petulant kick out during a confrontation
Mikel Arteta speaks to Max Dowman after red card in Carabao Cup6
It seems unlikely Arteta was saying 'unlucky mate' after Dowman was red carded
"It's difficult to see on the cameras like that, I prefer to watch it back properly so I can assess the situation," Arteta said of the incident leading to Dowman's red.
"We will learn from everything, yeah," Arteta said when asked if Dowman will learn from his indiscretions.
Incredible night for Fleetwood
As for Fleetwood, they march onto the quarter-finals with the most famous result in their 118-year history.
The Lancashire-based outfit showed great composure as they slotted home five penalties, despite according to manager Matt Lawlor not practising their spot-kicks in the lead-up to the tie.
"I'm absolutely buzzing proud," Lawlor told talkSPORT. "I'm proud as anything. I'm really ecstatic for the club, I'm ecstatic for the players.
"We've got to the fourth round and we played Sheffield United in the last round, which was a massive mammoth task for us, obviously being League Two and going down a model of how we want to go down with young players and obviously being financially completely separate.
Fleetwood Town players celebrate Carabao Cup win over Arsenal6
Fleetwood are only two points above safety in League Two but are in the last eight of the League Cup
Fleetwood manager Matt Lawlor applauds fans after Carabao Cup win over Arsenal6
The appointment of Lawlor as Fleetwood boss in January has proven to be a masterstroke
"Arsenal coming here, we were realistic but we have to believe.
"Obviously, I'm a very passionate human being. Those that will speak around me about me, I might lack certain bits but I'm very, very, very passionate.
"I know my pre-match speech was about passion and playing with passion, being proud and showing the town, the club and the nation about what we are.
"I think we did that in… listen, we're never going to dominate the ball against them players, are we?
"We had to show it in a different way and we pressed a little bit different. All the nonsense you hear in football these days, we pressed a little bit different, obviously, because we came up against the champions.
"There were tactical things on Sunday and Monday and it was more passion and a bit of rah-rah before the game."