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THURSDAY | OCT 29, 2026

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Fleetwood whack

Fleetwood Town players celebrate after defeating Arsenal on penalties in the Carabao Cup fourth round at Highbury Stadium yesterday, while Gunners manager Mikel Arteta reacts to the result. – AFPPIC/REUTERSPIC

Arteta rues ‘very sad day’ as fourth-tier minnows dump Arsenal out of Carabao Cup

M IKEL ARTETA described Arsenal’s stunning Carabao Cup defeat by fourth-tier Fleetwood as “a very sad day” after the Premier League champi ons suffered one of the most embar rassing results in their history. Arteta’s side crashed out 5-3 on pen alties in an incredible fourth-round upset after the tie finished 1-1 in nor mal time, with goalkeeper Jay Lynch saving Bruno Guimaraes’ spot-kick before Conor Haughey converted the decisive penalty. Aaron Loupalo-Bi’s first half goal had put Fleetwood ahead before Viktor Gyokeres equalised after the interval, but Arsenal could not find a winner despite dominating possession and creating numerous chances. The Gunners’ hopes were further damaged when 16-year-old Max Dowman was sent off in the closing stages for violent conduct following an altercation with Harrison Neal. Arteta, who made nine changes with a Premier League trip to Liverpool looming, accepted that his side had failed to make their superiority count. “First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through the next round. The manner that they have done it, and for us a very sad day,” he said.

way. You don’t capitalise, then you can not go through to the next round. Unfortunately, we are out.” Asked about Dowman’s dismissal, Arteta said he wanted to review the incident before making a judgement. “It’s difficult to see on the cameras like that, so I prefer to watch it back

us not being on our level, we need to do better.” He added that the players must put the disappointment behind them with a major league fixture approaching. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We need to move on – we have a big game at the weekend, so bounc

“There is nothing to criticise the players for their attitude, their applica tion. The determination, you could see that was there from the start, even with 10 men. “But we conceded a really poor goal to start with that gave them some momentum. Obviously we have so much of the ball, so

going to out-play the best team in the country and the most organised team in the country,” he said. “So we had to ride our luck, we had to deny space, we had to deny options for them. And I think we did that really, really well in terms of the majority of the game.” Lawlor also revealed that Fleetwood had not practised penalties before the shoot-out, making their composure from the spot all the more remarkable. “We haven’t practised once!” he said. “A 19-year-old centreback took the last one, and buried it!” Lynch, who played a crucial role in the shoot-out, said the victory meant a great deal to the club and its support ers. “My voice has gone! The whole team was magnificent, every one of them,” the goalkeeper said. The defeat ended Arsenal’s hopes of winning the Carabao Cup for the first time since 1993, while Fleetwood advanced to the quarterfinals after a night of celebrations at Highbury Stadium. For Arteta, attention must now turn quickly to the League campaign, with Arsenal needing to recover from a result that will rank among the most painful setbacks of his tenure. – AFP/Agencies

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properly and then I can assess the situation,” he said, adding that the teenager would learn from the experience. For Fleetwood man ager Matt Lawlor, the result was a landmark achievement against opponents ranked 84 places above them in the English football pyramid. “I just can’t believe it.

many chances, so many shots, and if you want the margins to be big ger than going to the penalties, you need to capitalise on that. And we didn’t.” Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard admitted the team had failed to meet expectations and urged his teammates to respond quickly.

Zero problem

attitude-wise. Otherwise, I would be here absolutely fuming. I’m sad, I think we are all sad. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

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ing back at the weekend is all we can do now.” Arteta insisted that a lack of effort was not the reason for the defeat, but admitted his players had failed to turn their dominance into goals. “Zero problem attitude-wise. Otherwise, I would be here absolutely fuming. I’m sad, I think we are all sad,” he said. “We have a massive responsibility to carry this badge in the best possible

The biggest night in the club’s history in terms of opposition coming to town and we’ve managed to beat the cham pions,” he said. Lawlor acknowledged that his side could not expect to match Arsenal’s quality by playing an expansive game, instead choosing to frustrate the visi tors and exploit opportunities on the counter-attack. “We’re not stupid enough and not egotistical enough that you think we’re

“It’s very frustrating to go out. Obviously, the way we’ve played was not on the level. We need to do much, much better than we did today,” he said. Odegaard acknowledged Fleetwood’s achievement but said Arsenal had to take responsibility for their performance. “They did well so we have to give them credit, but I think today was about

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