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Arsenal's hopes of securing a domestic treble have ended before Halloween after they lost to League Two side Fleetwood Town on penalties in the League Cup on Tuesday night.
The fourth division outfit had lost their last two League Two matches, conceding six goals in the process, yet they were able to hold the Gunners to a 1-1 draw in normal time.
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Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
It was Bruno Guimaraes who missed his penalty in the shootout, going low to the goalkeeper's left, whilst Fleetwood dispatched all five of their penalties past Illan Meslier, who did not get close to any of them.
Aside from the result, the biggest talking point to come from the game was the red card shown to 16-year-old winger Max Dowman in the second half.
Why Dowman should not have been sent off
Fleetwood, as they had to be as the lower league team, were incredibly physical and aggressive throughout the game, going in hard on the teenager at every opportunity.
It was another hard challenge, right on the side of the pitch, that caused a reaction from the England youth international, but he only appeared to push back on the defender with his leg, as it was caught between Harrison Neal's legs.
Rather than an out-and-out kick out on the central midfielder, Dowman pushed back because he was trapped after the heavy tackle, but the referee took it as a kick out and decided to show the red card.
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Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Whilst it was still a moment of ill-discipline from the teenager, a yellow card apiece for the incident should have been enough to deal with the situation.
Arsenal attacker was worse than Dowman
Even with the red card, Dowman was not the worst attacker on the pitch for the Gunners in their defeat to Fleetwood in the League Cup, as Kai Havertz dropped a dismal showing in the number ten role.
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Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
The Germany international was selected to play behind Gyokeres in the 4-2-3-1 system and failed to make the most of the chances that he had to score.
He had seven shots and two 'big chances' to find the back of the net in the 90 minutes, yet the only time he managed to hit the net was during the penalty shoot-out.
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Vs Fleetwood Dowman Havertz
Pass accuracy 91% 76%
Key passes 2 1
Big chances created 1 0
Shots 3 7
Big chances missed 1 2
Duels won 2/10 10/11
Dowman was far better with the ball at his feet, completing 91% of his passes and creating more chances for the team, and had a better performance overall, in spite of the red card.
3/10 Arsenal star must never start again this season
Neither Havertz nor Dowman were the worst performer on the night for Mikel Arteta's side, though, as one star must never start again after this defeat.
Alexis-Sanchez-Arsenal
The Spanish head coach opted for heavy rotation against the League Two team to offer chances to some of the younger players within the squad, but those players did not grasp their opportunities to impress.
Marli Salmon was given his second start of the season for the first-team at the heart of the defence, and he dropped a disappointing performance on the night.
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He looked like a fish out of water, pardon the pun, against a team that wanted to play direct and use their physicality at every opportunity, and only won one of his three attempted duels in the first-half.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi rolled the central defender far too easily for the opening goal in the game, which led to Salmon going to ground far too early and allowing the forward to fire past Meslier.
The 17-year-old centre-back was also guilty of forcing a pass a few too many times, losing possession six times in the opening 45 minutes, and was substituted by Arteta at half-time.
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Arsenal player ratings vs Fleetwood
Illan Meslier
Jurrien Timber
Cristhian Mosquera
Marli Salmon
Piero Hincapie
Martin Zubimendi
Myles Lewis-Skelly
Max Dowman
Kai Havertz
Ceadach O'Neill
Viktor Gyokeres
He was even worse than Dowman, who produced some impressive creativity, and Havertz, who was dominant in his physical duels, as he struggled in all aspects of the game.
Now, Arteta should not hand the 17-year-old talent another first-team start between now and the end of the season, because he does not look ready for the physicality of first-team football.
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Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Instead, Arsenal, now that they are out of the League Cup, should think about sending him out on loan to the lower leagues in the second half of the season so that he can gain valuable experience and adjust to the physicality that is required of him.