Fleetwood Town beat Arsenal in penalty shootout (AP)
Fleetwood (England): The Carabao Cup witnessed one of the most shocking results in the 66-year history of the competition, as Fleetwood Town, a side from fourth-tier League Two, defeated Premier League Champions Arsenal on Tuesday. The match was played at the home ground of Fletwwod, Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood.
Arsenal, who had 16-year-old rising star Max Dowman receive a red card in the second half, were held to a 1-1 draw in regulation time, and the result was decided on the basis of a penalty shootout. Fleetwood won the penalties 5-3. The significance of the win for Fleetwood can be gauged by the fact that the two teams are separated by 84 places in the English football pyramid.
Arsenal squad vs Fleetwood
Meslier, Timber, Salmon, Mosquera, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, O’Neill, Havertz, Gyokeres
Substitutes: Arrizabalaga, White, Odegaard, Eze, Konsa, Guimaraes, Harriman-Annous, Washington, Hashi
Fleetwood vs Arsenal highlights
Why was it a shocking result?
Fleetwood beating Arsenal was a shocking result considering the journey of both the football clubs so far and the way they have both established themselves in English football.
Arsenal are one of the elite teams in Europe with a history of 14 league titles, a record 14 FA Cups, and last season’s Champions League final. They invested heavily in summer and are currently placed second in the Premier League standings with same number of points as that of Manchester City (21).
There are only so many social posts that can do tonight justice – we’ll leave that for the morning. ❤️ For now, we just need to tell the world that little old Fleetwood isn’t your standard football club. Everyone in our town already knew that. Tonight, we showed the world. Thank you.
— Fleetwood Town Football Club (@ftfc) October 28, 2026
Fleetwood, who are known as The Cod Army, have a turbulent history. They are steadily progressing in the pyramid of English football but have a long distance to cover to reach the top tier yet. Their best performance in English football has been to play in the EFL League One (Tier 3) after getting a promotion with a 1-0 win over Burton Albion
How Arsenal vs Fleetwood match panned out?
The match caused some early delay due to a drone flying over the stadium. After the game kicked off, Fleetwood made a stunning start as Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi outmuscled teenage Arsenal defender Marli Salmon to find the net in the 21st minute. His shot went through the legs of debutant goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
Arsenal pulled one back five minutes into the second half as Viktor Gyökeres put a shot into the net from a low cross provided by Ceadach O’Neill. Arsenal dominated possession and registered 18 shots but were unable to find a winner. Also, the game witnessed some late drama as 16-year-old starlet Max Dowman was shown a straight red card in the 85th minute for kicking out at Fleetwood’s Harrison Neal.
Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch made two stunning saves in stoppage time to push the game into the penalty shootout.
Bruno Guimarães misses decisive penalty
Fleetwood fired home all of their penalties, but the defining moment of the game came when Jay Lynch saved a spot kick from Arsenal’s £75million summer signing, Bruno Guimarães. The hosts then had to just convert their final penalty, and 19-year-old defender Conor Haughey slotted the spot kick into the net, and a massive pitch invasion soon took place at the Flyde Coast.
