Fleetwood Town goalkeeper Jay Lynch saved the penalty that mattered, teenage defender Conor Haughey scored the one that won it, and League Two Fleetwood knocked Premier League champions Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup. They drew 1-1 at Highbury Stadium on Tuesday night and won the shootout 5-3. Fans ran onto the pitch at the final whistle.
“The biggest night in the club’s history in terms of opposition, and we’ve managed to beat the champions,” said Fleetwood manager Matt Lawlor. It was more than a big night for Fleetwood. Arsenal are the first reigning Premier League champions to be knocked out of the League Cup by a fourth-tier side.
How the upset unfolded
The game started late. Shortly after kick-off, with the score 0-0, a drone was seen above the ground. Referee Michael Salisbury stopped play for about eight minutes while police and stadium staff dealt with it. Once play resumed, Fleetwood looked the sharper side.
They went ahead after 21 minutes. Mark Helm set Aaron Loupalo-Bi running, and the 20-year-old Fulham loanee turned past his defender and shot into the corner. It was a goal that suited Lawlor’s game plan: work hard, stay compact and attack quickly.
Mikel Arteta’s side had made nine changes from their 2-0 Premier League win over Everton. Only Myles Lewis-Skelly and Viktor Gyökeres kept their places. Martin Ødegaard came on at half-time and Arsenal improved straight away. Five minutes after the restart, Ceadach O’Neill’s low cross set up Gyökeres for his first goal of the season.
Arsenal then had to defend their own chances of going through. With around five minutes left, Max Dowman was sent off for kicking out at Harrison Neal after a challenge. Even with ten men, Arsenal came close to winning it in stoppage time, but Lynch made important saves from Ben White and Ødegaard to take the game to penalties.
In the shootout, Fleetwood scored all five of their kicks. Lynch saved from Bruno Guimarães, and Haughey stepped up and scored the winner, sending the home crowd onto the pitch.
A result against the odds
The result is all the more surprising given Fleetwood’s recent form. Lawlor’s side are 18th in League Two, the lowest-ranked team left in the competition. They had won only once in eight league games, and lost 4-2 at Cheltenham and 2-1 at Exeter in their last two matches before this tie.
They had never beaten top-flight opposition before. Reaching the last 16 was already a first in their 15 EFL Cup campaigns. Now they are in the quarter-finals for the first time since they were promoted into the Football League in 2012.
The key numbers from the night:
- Fleetwood won 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, scoring all five of their spot-kicks
- Loupalo-Bi scored after 21 minutes; Gyökeres equalised on 50 minutes
- Dowman was sent off around the 85th minute
- Arsenal made nine changes to their starting line-up
- The match was held up for about eight minutes by a drone early in the first half
Midfielder Jake Batty called it “one to tell the grandkids”. Lynch compared it with Grimsby Town’s shootout win over Manchester United in this competition in 2025, the most recent time a fourth-tier club beat one of English football’s biggest names.
What it means for Arsenal
For Arsenal, it is another disappointment in a competition that keeps letting them down. They lost last season’s final to Manchester City, and they have not won the League Cup since 1993.
Arteta will argue that his priorities are clear. With Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Christos Tzolis all injured, he used this tie to rest his main players. Ødegaard only came on at half-time. Still, a nine-change line-up that included a striker short on confidence and a 16-year-old in midfield could not beat a side from the bottom half of League Two. Some will question whether Arsenal’s squad is deep enough beyond the first XI.
Dowman’s red card is another concern. It was an inexperienced reaction under pressure, and it will mean a suspension for one of the club’s brightest young players. There was some good news for Arsenal: Gyökeres, who had gone without a goal all season, finally scored.
What comes next for Fleetwood
For Fleetwood, the win adds to a remarkable story. They won six promotions in 12 years to climb from non-league football into the Football League. Then came a setback: relegation from League One in April 2024. On Tuesday they beat the champions of England.
The quarter-final draw takes place on Wednesday and the ties will be played in December. Fleetwood will be the outsiders against whoever they draw, but Batty has already said how he wants the team to approach it: they should be “fearless” again.
Lawlor does not want his players getting carried away. Fleetwood host Bristol Rovers in League Two on Saturday, and he has made it clear that the league game is the priority. Their league position is what decides their season.
Still, nights like this are why the cup matters. A club from a town of about 25,000 people, playing in front of a crowd of a few thousand, beat the Premier League champions. Fleetwood will always have this one.
Ahmad Ali is Sports Editor at SportsPortal.net
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**Notes:**
– **Penalty saves:** The two sources disagree. ESPN says Lynch saved from Ben White and Ødegaard in stoppage time and saved only Guimarães in the shootout. Yahoo’s summary says he saved all three in the shootout. The article uses ESPN’s version.
– **Quotes:** Only Lawlor’s full quote and Batty’s short phrases come word for word from the sources. The Lynch–Grimsby comparison is paraphrased.
– **Two facts I didn’t confirm:**
– The article says Guimarães was playing for Arsenal. That’s how both sources describe him, though he was a Newcastle player as of my last confirmed information.
– The town’s population of about 25,000 is from my general knowledge, not the sources.
– Quick memory pointer: this article is about the same match as the drone-delay piece from 27 Oct. The final score was 1-1 with Fleetwood winning on penalties, not 1-0 as that session’s notes said.
Sources:
– [Yahoo Sports – ‘Biggest night in the club’s history’ for fearless Fleetwood](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/biggest-night-clubs-history-fearless-003935500.html)
– [ESPN – Fleetwood Town 1-1 Arsenal match report](https://www.espn.com/soccer/report/_/gameId/401921835)
– [Blueprint – League Two club Fleetwood beat Arsenal in historic Carabao Cup upset](https://blueprint.ng/league-two-club-fleetwood-beat-arsenal-in-historic-carabao-cup-upset/)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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