Arsenal suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in their history as the Premier League champions were stunned by fourth-tier minnows Fleetwood Town in a League Cup penalty shootout.
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champions → suffer → shootout
Mikel Arteta’s side crashed out 5-3 on penalties in an incredible fourth-round upset after the tie finished 1-1 in normal time on Tuesday.
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tie → crash → Tuesday
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Kane → conquer → d’Or
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Arsenal’s Bruno Guimaraes had his penalty saved by Jay Lynch in the shootout and Conor Haughey scored Fleetwood’s winner.
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Haughey → have → winner
Aaron Loupalo-Bi’s first-half goal had put Fleetwood ahead before Viktor Gyokeres equalised after the interval.
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Gyokeres → put → interval
Arsenal’s 16-year-old rising star Max Dowman was sent off for violent conduct in the closing stages.
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star → rise → stages
Arteta paid the price for prioritising Sunday’s Premier League trip to Liverpool as his decision to make nine changes backfired spectacularly.
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decision → pay → changes
No one would have predicted Arsenal’s embarrassment regardless of Arteta’s selection gamble.
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one → predict → gamble
They had moved level on points with Premier League leaders Manchester City after a 2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday.
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They → move → Saturday
But instead of extending their run of 11 wins from their 13 previous games, Arsenal returned to north London red-faced after a loss that ranks among the darkest days in the club’s glittering history.
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that → extend → history
Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal suffered a shock League Cup loss against fourth-tier Bradford on penalties in 2012.
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Arsenal → suffer → 2012
Arteta’s team were beaten by second-tier Southampton in the FA Cup last season and also lost to Nottingham Forest, then in the Championship, in the same competition in 2022.
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team → beat → 2022
Supporters of an older vintage will recall Arsenal’s 1969 League Cup final loss against third-tier Swindon and their 1992 FA Cup exit at fourth-tier Wrexham.
But even those painful defeats cannot compare with this remarkable result.
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defeats → recall → result
For once, Arsenal fans will not have fond memories of Highbury – Fleetwood’s ground shares the same name as the Gunners’ ancestral home before their move to the Emirates Stadium in 2006.
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ground → have → 2006
Fleetwood’s tiny 5,327-capacity ground, where goals are celebrated with a burst of the children’s cartoon song Captain Pugwash over the tannoy, is a far cry from the famous marble halls and dignified grandeur of Arsenal’s former stadium.
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goals → celebrate → stadium
Now it will be remembered forever as the site of Arsenal’s most chastening loss in the Arteta era.
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it → remember → era
Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor wept tears of joy as disbelieving fans flooded the pitch to celebrate their club’s astonishing victory.
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fans → weep → victory
‘Cod Army’ uprising
Only Myles Lewis-Skelly and Gyokeres kept their places from the Everton game, with teenagers Dowman and Marli Salmon starting, while 18-year-old winger Ceadach O’Neill made his debut.
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O’Neill → keep → debut
Languishing in 18th place in League Two, Fleetwood had lost their previous two league games against Exeter City and Cheltenham, yet they showed no signs of being intimidated by their illustrious visitors.
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they → languish → visitors
After an eight-minute delay due to an unauthorised drone flying over the stadium, Arsenal were caught cold on a windy night by the Irish Sea.
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Arsenal → fly → Sea
Fleetwood are nicknamed the “Cod Army” in reference to the town’s fishing industry, so it was somewhat fitting that a mistake from Salmon netted their opener in the 21st minute.
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mistake → nickname → minute
Salmon’s lack of experience was brutally exposed when Loupalo-Bi muscled his way past the 17-year-old with ease, racing into the penalty area to plant a low finish past debutant keeper Illan Meslier.
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Bi → expose → Meslier
Arsenal monopolised possession after that shock, but Arteta grew visibly agitated with their lack of cutting edge.
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Arteta → monopolise → edge
Arteta sent on Martin Odegaard at half-time, and Gyokeres bagged Arsenal’s equaliser five minutes later.
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Gyokeres → send → equaliser
It was a scrappy effort that left Fleetwood feeling aggrieved as Gyokeres wrestled with his marker before poking O’Neill’s ball past Lynch from close range.
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Gyokeres → leave → range
Dowman saw red in the 85th minute, dismissed for kicking out at Harrison Neal after a strong challenge from the Fleetwood midfielder.
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Dowman → see → midfielder
Although it looked a harsh decision, Arteta was unimpressed with Dowman, giving him a stern word as the midfielder trudged off.
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midfielder → look → word
Both teams scored their first three penalties in the shootout, but Guimaraes was denied by Lynch and Haughey held his nerve to seal the biggest shock in League Cup history.
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Haughey → score → history
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