Arsenal Knocked Out of Carabao Cup on Penalties by Fourth-Tier Fleetwood

Premier League side Arsenal have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Fleetwood Town, a fourth-tier team in English football. At Fleetwood's Highbury Stadium on Tuesday night (27 October), the match finished 1-1 after normal time before the hosts won the shootout 5-3.

The victory took League Two side Fleetwood into the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Fleetwood went ahead in the 21st minute through a goal by Aaron Loupalo-Bi. With no further goals in the first half, Arsenal went into the break trailing.

The visitors tried to fight back after the interval. Arsenal, the Gunners, drew level in the 50th minute through a goal by Viktor Gyokeres. They created several more chances but could not find a winning goal in normal time.

Arsenal came under further pressure late in the match. In the 85th minute, their 16-year-old player Max Dowman was sent off after a clash with Fleetwood's Harrison Neal, leaving the team to play the rest of the match with 10 men.

With the scores level, the match went to a penalty shootout. Fleetwood's players converted all five of their shots. For Arsenal, the fourth shot, taken by Bruno Guimaraes, was saved by Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch. Connor Hogg then scored the fifth shot to seal the win for his team.

The gap between the two clubs in the English football pyramid is 84 places: Arsenal at the top level, Fleetwood in the fourth tier. Despite that gap, the hosts produced one of the biggest upsets of the competition by eliminating their powerful opponents.

Fleetwood's quarter-final opponents will be decided after the remaining fourth-round matches.