Fleetwood Town produced one of the biggest shocks in Carabao Cup history as the League Two team dumped out Premier League champions Arsenal on penalties to reach the quarter-finals. Mikel Arteta named a strong Arsenal side with Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz up front and Martin Odegaard playing the second half. But they were not at the races, as the team two points above the League Two relegation zone took them to a 1-1 draw after Max Dowman was sent off before the shoot-out.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Then Bruno Guimaraes saw his penalty saved by Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch - who also made wonder saves to deny Ben White and Odegaard in stoppage time. That left Conor Haughey to blast past Illan Meslier - picked by Arteta over penalty expert Kepa Arrizabalaga to make his Arsenal debut - to send Highbury mad. Fleetwood deserved the shoot-out after a bonkers start to the game.
An unrecognised drone hovering over Highbury forced a seven-minute delay after 90 seconds. Then Aaron Loupalo-Bi put the fourth tier side ahead after outmuscling 17-year-old defender Marli Salmon and poking past Meslier. Arsenal responded after half-time as Viktor Gyokoeres bundled home his first of the season at the back post after good work from Northern Ireland teenager Cedach O'Neill - making his first start for the club.
But Havertz missed chance after chance. Then came a moment of contention as Dowman was shown his marching orders for apparently kicking out at Harrison Neal. The call was described as "really harsh" by Andy Hinchcliffe on Sky Sports commentary.
But this is Fleetwood's story. A non-league club as recently as 2012, they have now knocked out the reigning Premier League champions. "Life is about memories and they've got one for life.
"You turn up tonight [Tuesday} and you think 'how strong are Arsenal, they could get three or four', but fair play to them [Fleetwood]. And you won't see five penalties better than that. They were off the charts.
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