Fleetwood Beat Arsenal 5-3 on Penalties in EFL Cup Fourth Round

Fleetwood Town beat Arsenal 5-3 on penalties at Highbury Stadium in Fleetwood on Tuesday, October 27, after the EFL Cup fourth round tie finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. The League Two club, playing in the fourth tier of English football, held the Premier League champions through normal time and then won the shootout to reach the quarter finals.

Aaron Loupalo-Bi gave Fleetwood the lead in the 21st minute. He held off defender Marli Salmon and finished past Arsenal goalkeeper Illan Meslier, putting the home side ahead against the top flight visitors. Fleetwood kept that lead to halftime, with the score still 1-0 when the teams went in.

Arsenal level in the second half

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta changed his side at halftime. Captain Martin Odegaard and Ben White came on for Marli Salmon and Jurrien Timber, and the change paid off quickly. Viktor Gyokeres equalised five minutes into the second half, in the 50th minute, making it 1-1.

Arteta introduced Eberechi Eze in the 66th minute as Arsenal chased a winner. Fleetwood held on, and neither side found a second goal in normal time. Under the rules of this round, a tie level after 90 minutes went straight to penalties, with no extra time.

A drone, then a red card

The match had already been interrupted early on. Play was stopped about two minutes in because a drone was hovering over the pitch at Highbury Stadium. Referee Michael Salisbury took the players off the field until it cleared, before play resumed.

The closing minutes brought a second major incident. Arsenal teenager Max Dowman, 16, was sent off with a straight red card in the 85th minute for retaliating after a hard tackle by Harrison Neal. The dismissal left Arsenal with 10 men for the final minutes of normal time and for the shootout that followed.

The shootout decides it

With the score at 1-1, the tie was settled from the penalty spot. Fleetwood won the shootout 5-3, completing the result recorded in the official Sportradar match data for the tie and confirming the biggest result of the night in the competition.

The scale of the result is set by the gap between the two clubs. Fleetwood play in League Two, three divisions below Arsenal, and this was the first time the club had reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. Arsenal arrived as Premier League champions and as the visiting top flight side. Fleetwood matched them for 90 minutes, took the lead, recovered after the equaliser, and then held their nerve when the tie went to penalties.

For Arsenal, the night ended with a defeat on penalties, a red card for a 16 year old, and an exit from the competition in the fourth round. For Fleetwood, a first fourth round appearance in this competition now continues into the quarter finals.