Arsenal, on Tuesday, suffered a humiliating fourth-round Carabao Cup exit, with League Two side Fleetwood Town winning a penalty shootout to earn a historic win over the Premier League champions.
The fourth-round tie was interrupted in the opening stages by a drone flying above Highbury Stadium. Barely a minute of the match had been played when referee Michael Salisbury was alerted to the drone overhead.
Arsenal had been preparing to take a free-kick when Salisbury halted the match to speak with officials next to the touchline. The referee then called both sets of players over to the touchline, speaking to both captains and managers, but moments later, the drone flew off and play resumed after a delay of more than eight minutes.
The match was the biggest in Fleetwood’s 15-year history as a football league club, with this the furthest they have ever gone in the League Cup.
Mikel Arteta rolled the dice by making nine changes to the side that defeated Everton 2-0 in the Premier League last weekend, but Marli Salmon – one of the players to come into the side – was at fault for Fleetwood’s opener in the first half.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi – formerly of Fulham – latched onto a ball forward and turned the young Gunners defender before keeping his composure to finish past Illan Meslier. It sent the Highbury Stadium wild and despite piling the pressure on, the visiting north Londoners went into the break 1-0 down.
Arteta made changes at break with Martin Odegaard and Ben White coming on for Jurrien Timber and Salmon, with the captain’s introduction making a huge difference. Five minutes into the second period and the visitors were level, with Gyokeres somehow bundling home a scruffy goal after Ceadach O’Neill’s teasing delivery.
With five minutes of normal time remaining, Max Dowman was sent off after his reaction to a strong Harrison Neal challenge – with the wonderkid shown his marching orders for seemingly kicking out at the Fleetwood player.
The match was decided by a penalty shoot-out and Fleetwood Town won 5-3 to claim an historic win – but it was a humiliating night for the visitors.
