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Carabao Cup: Fleetwood Town shock Arsenal in shootout win

Fleetwood Town pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Carabao Cup history as they beat Premier League Champions Arsenal to reach the Quarter-Finals.

The hosts, ranked 84 places below Arsenal in the football pyramid, progress to the Quarter-Finals of the competition for the first time in their history after a stunning penalty shootout win over the Gunners.

With Grimsby Town's upset of Manchester United in Round Three last year still fresh in the memory, Fleetwood welcomed the Gunners to Highbury Stadium with hope of pulling off the unthinkable.

Those hopes quickly became a reality, with Aaron Loupalo-Bi slotting home to give the home side an unlikely 21st minute lead over Mikel Arteta's side.

Fleetwood fought and defended doggedly, faced with a strong Arsenal side containing stars such as Max Dowman, Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz. They held firm until half-time but were soon back on level terms after the break, with Gyokeres tapping home a scrappy leveller to notch his first goal of the season.

With even more firepower brought off the bench, it looked like Arsenal may run away with the tie, but defensive discipline and some stunning goalkeeping from Jay Lynch kept the Gunners at bay.

Arsenal's task grew even harder when youngster Max Dowman was shown a red card for kicking out after a Harrison Neal challenge five minutes from time.

Spot-kicks awaited, and it was Lynch who proved to be the hero, keeping out substitute Bruno Guimaraes' penalty before Conor Haughey lashed his in to send the home fans wild.

An incredible underdog performance sees Fleetwood progress to the Quarter-Finals, with their opponents to be decided in Wednesday night's Quarter-Final draw.

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