Arsenal stunned by Fleetwood in Carabao Cup shock
Fleetwood Town pulled off a giant-killing for the ages as it beat Premier League champion Arsenal 5-3 on penalties in the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal's first game at a ground called Highbury Stadium in 20 years ended in a humbling as Max Dowman was sent off late on in a 1-1 draw, with Bruno Guimaraes missing the decisive penalty.
Goalkeeper Jay Lynch was a Fleetwood hero as he kept out Guimaraes's spot-kick, paving the way for Conor Haughey to seal the most famous win in the club's history.
Play was paused early on due to a drone flying over the stadium. But when play resumed, Arsenal could not get into gear, and their slack start was punished in the 21st minute, with Aaron Loupalo-Bi getting the better of Marli Salmon and finishing neatly beyond Illan Meslier.
Jurrien Timber headed off target towards the end of the first half, but Mikel Arteta wasted no time in making alterations at the break.
Timber was replaced by Ben White, while Martin Odegaard came on for Salmon.
Those changes paid dividends as the Gunners drew level in the 50th minute, with Viktor Gyokeres bundling home a scrappy equaliser after Fleetwood failed to deal with a left-wing centre.
Kai Havertz seemed all set to put Arsenal ahead when Lynch spiled Dowman's strike, but Rhys Bennett made a stunning block.
Havertz slammed wide after latching onto Odegaard's throughball soon after, but Arsenal's flurry soon died off.
The task was made more difficult in the 85th minute, with Dowman sent off for violent conduct after he kicked out at Andy Cannon following a robust but fair challenge from the Fleetwood attacker.
Lynch made a spectacular stop to deny White what seemed set to be a certain winner, and he was at it again in the shoot-out, lunging to his left to thwart Guimaraes.
Haughey then made no mistake, as Fleetwood – 18th in League Two – dumped out last season's runners-up.
Max Robert Dowman
Arsenal FC
