Arsenal suffer humiliating Fleetwood defeat as Mikel Arteta fumes after Max Dowman red

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FLEETWOOD 1-1 ARSENAL (4-3 pens.): The League Two side dumped out the Premier League champions at Highbury in an almighty League Cup shock

Premier League champions Arsenal suffered one of the biggest cup shocks in history as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup to Fleetwood Town after a penalty shootout.

On a night of drama that saw Gunners wonderkid Max Dowman sent off, the fourth-tier side sealed the best result in their history.

The game itself was delayed by eight minutes due to a drone above the stadium. And when the football finally got underway, the hosts took the lead through Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi.

Arsenal hit back just minutes into the second half through Viktor Gyokeres, with Dowman sent off after kicking out following a heavy challenge. The game then headed to penalties, with Bruno Guimaraes ending up seeing his spot-kick saved and securing Fleetwood a place in the quarter-finals in the process.

Hale End nightmare

It was no surprise to see plenty of rotation in the side ahead of kick-off, with a number of academy graduates being given the nod by Mikel Arteta. Max Dowman, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ceadach O'Neill, Marli Salmon were all named in the starting XI.

Dowman unsurpsingly carried the most threat and almost teed up Viktor Gyokeres for an opener but the Swedish striker couldn't quite stretch enough to get onto his cross. The youngster also needs to be praised for his willingness to get back and defend in the closing stages.

But then his night was ruined in the closing stages after being dismissed after he kicked out and triggered a mass brawl. Boss Arteta was clearly furious with the teenager - and that's no surprise given the petulance of his kickout.

It was also a less than inspiring night for defender Salmon. He should arguably have done better for the Fleetwood goal after being shaken off by Loupalo-Bi, who finished coolly. Salmon was then taken off at the break in favour of Ben White.

Gyokeres scoring again struggles continue

A clash against a League Two side should have been the perfect game for Viktor Gyokeres to get his season finally up and running. The former Sporting Lisbon had not managed to score in any of his opening ten appearances of the season.

And it looked like being another poor evening for the Swede after struggling to really impose himself on the game.

Yes, he scored but even that was a scruffy one from the forward as he swung a leg at the ball as he was falling over but he just about got enough on his effort to see it trickle over the line.

Based on this performance, neither he, nor attacking partner Kai Havertz have done enough to stake a claim to lead the line in the weekend's clash with Liverpool.

Arteta calls on big guns

Arsenal boss Arteta will have been hoping that his side eased through and he did not need to turn to his more established first-team stars.

But Arsenal's performance was so uninspiring that the Spanish coach immediately had to call for backup, with captain Martin Odegaard and Ben White introduced at the break.

Bruno Guimaraes and Eberechi Eze were both also introduced after half time. And the changes had an instant impact ahead of Gyokeres' equaliser but Arsenal couldn't quite do enough to seal victory within the 90 minutes.

And it was one of his big-hitters, Bruno Guimaraes, who missed to send Arsenal out of the cup.

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