Fleetwood Town vs Arsenal - Carabao Cup RECAP: League Two side STUN Gunners with victory on penalties

By HARRY BAMFORTH, LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE REPORTER

Updated: 23:49 GMT, 27 October 2026

Relive Daily Mail Sport's coverage as Arsenal were dumped out of the Carabap Cup by League Two side Fleetwood Town.

Fleetwood kick Arsenal out the cup

Well, what a night.

I'm pretty sure we all came into this evening thinking that this was a boring tie; Fleetwood would have no chance against the mighty Premier League fans that are Arsenal.

I remember telling a colleague this afternoon that 'this is a rubbish game to cover'. How wrong I was, eh?

Fleetwood produced the cup upsets of all cup upsets, by knocking out a team who sit 84 places above them in the English football pyramid.

The result showed why we still call this the beautiful game.

Anyway, I need to rest up now because we have a blockbuster night of Carabao Cup games coming your way tomorrow night.

I'll see you all there.

'I'd have put my arm around Dowman'

Paul Merson, former Arsenal forward, speaking about Max Dowman's red card on Sky Sports:

It could easily have been a yellow, but you've got to remember he's 16, he's a kid and he wasn't having the greatest night and he's going to get frustrated. It's an old-fashioned tackle - he gets the ball then the player.

If that's Gyokeres, who's an experienced international, he [Arteta] isn't doing that - but he does that to a 16-year-old kid. He's not the last person to get sent off for Arsenal, nor the first.

If it was me, I'd have put my arm around him. It's still 1-1, they're still in the game. We all say things in life we wish we hadn't and if he [Arteta] could have that back, he'd do it differently.

The kings of the shootout

Fleetwood's win should never have been in doubt; they just love a penalty shootout.

They can't stop winning them.

The Cod Army have emerged victorious from their last four penalty shootouts in all competitions. They have converted each of their last 16 spot-kicks across those shootouts.

Not bad for a team that apparently doesn't practice them.

HIGHLIGHTS: Fleetwood 1-1 Arsenal (Fleetwood win 5-3 on penalties)

Arsenal fans, look away.

The highlights of arguably the biggest shock this competition has ever seen are now out.

The scenes at the end are ones that will go down in history. Fleetwood fans will never forget them.

'It feels like giant-killing country here'

Oliver Holt at Highbury Stadium:

It feels like giant-killing country here. Especially on Tuesday evening when a gale blew through the ground, bending the corner flags and threatening to sweep laptops off the press tables and dislodge red and blue hats from the heads of the Cod Army regulars who filed into the stands and leaned against the crush barriers on the terraces behind the goals.

This was Highbury, but not as Arsenal know it. There is nothing Art Deco about any of the stands at Fleetwood Town’s delightful ground. The capacity is 5327. The trendy restaurants of Upper Street are not a short walk away down Holloway Road. This is a different kind of Highbury. A single-storey sports and social club sits behind the touchline opposite the main stand. A banner proclaiming ‘Up the Cods’ hung behind one of the goals.

It is more than 20 years since Arsenal – who brought 1100 fans north with them - played the final game at their Highbury but even though this Carabao Cup fourth round tie on the Fylde Coast only pitted them against a team that languishes two points outside the relegation zone in League Two, 85 places adrift of them in the pyramid, Mikel Arteta picked a strong side.

'Arsenal didn't play well'

Paul Merson, former Arsenal forward, on Sky Sports:

The work rate was there [from Arsenal], but the performance wasn't. Gyokeres, Havertz, they can't knock on Arteta's door at the weekend. If one of them wasn't playing, they couldn't have any argument about it. They didn't play well.

The one thing Fleetwood were going to do was work their socks off. Talent-wise, not even on the same planet let alone the same pitch, but you've got to match them. They matched them, but then you've got to do more and it was only Odegaard who did that extra bit.

Arteta reveals what he said to Dowman... sort of

OK, now we know.

Mikel Arteta has now spoken out on what he said to young Max Dowman after he was sent off. And well, it wasn't much.

Arteta claimed to BBC Sport that it was about 'something that we discussed already before the match,' but I find that hard to believe.

It didn't exactly look like kind words, but hey, maybe I should be more trusting of the Arsenal boss.

But at least we have heard about it now.

WATCH: Dowman sees red

Right then, let's see why Max Dowman was sent off.

I've now watched this clip at least four or five times and still believe it's a harsh red card.

Now, yes, it's silly from young Dowman, but he barely kicks out at Harrison Read. It certainly doesn't warrant the reaction it got or the red.

What do you guys think? Are we only saying that because of how young Dowman is? I guess, maybe...

What did Arteta say to Dowman?

We need to talk about this.

I was hoping we would hear Mikel Arteta talk about what he said to Max Dowman after he was sent off late on, but sadly the subject wasn't approached.

The Spaniard certainly said something to the 16-year-old as he went down the tunnel, and well, it was certainly not a message of support. You could see that Arteta wasn't happy.

I'm surprised he would act like that toward the youngster. I get he was sent off for something rather silly (which was rather harsh); I don't think he needs the dressing down.

I'm sure they will be having a proper conversation in the coming days.

Arteta: 'Sad for us but that's the beauty of this competition'

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal boss, on Sky Sports:

First of all, congratulate Fleetwood for going through to the next round. A really sad day for us, but I can't fault the attitude of the players. We had so many chances, so many shots, but if you don't want to go to penalties, you have to capitalise on that. We didn't.

Especially when they go ahead and they create the momentum, and then we give them almost the rest of the game. That's football and the beauty of this competition, especially in this country. A sad day.

On Max Dowman's red card:

It's difficult to see on the cameras; I prefer to watch back properly and assess the situation. We will learn from everything, yeah. The attitude was good; otherwise, I would be here absolutely fuming. It had nothing to do with effort.

Lawlor: 'We didn't even practice penalties'

Matt Lawlor, Fleetwood boss, speaking to Sky Sports:

I don't think it will [sink in]. I've just told the players to enjoy it and we've got a league game on Saturday. I didn't want to be the bearer of reality, but we've got a game. I couldn't believe it. The biggest night in the club's history in terms of opposition coming to town and we've managed to beat the champions somehow.

We're not egotistical enough to think we're going to play the best team in the country and outplay them, so we had to ride our luck, deny space, deny options for them and we did that really well for the majority of the game. The goal happens but they are going to happen, they're so good at football. It was a tough game to prepare for and I'm so glad the lads are feeling the way they are and put that performance in to make everyone proud.

On the penalty shootout:

I'm going to be honest, we haven't practiced once. I'm not going to blag that we had some meticulous penalties; we haven't. The lads took care of themselves. We have a 19-year-old centre back that took the last one. I was a little bit worried when he was walking up, but Conor backs himself. I was just so pleased we even took it to that and whatever happened, happened.

Scenes of celebration

It's time to let the pictures do the talking. Look at the scenes.