Arteta laments as Fleetwood Town dump Arsenal out of League Cup
Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has rued his team’s 5-3 penalty shootout defeat to fourth division side Fleetwood Town to crash out of the 2025-26 Carabao Cup in the fourth round.
The Spanish manager made nine changes from the side that defeated Everton 2-0 in the Premier League last weekend.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi’s first-half goal had put Fleetwood ahead before Viktor Gyokeres equalised after the interval.
Arsenal’s 16-year-old rising star Max Dowman was sent off for violent conduct in the closing stages.
Arteta described the defeat as a sad day, while congratulating the Fleetwood Town players for the historic victory.
He said: “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.
“There is nothing to criticise the players for their attitude, their application.
“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 many chances, so many shots, and if you want the margins to be bigger than going to the penalties, you need to capitalise on that. And we didn’t.
“It’s football, that’s the beauty of this competition. It’s a very sad day.”
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On the other hand, Fleetwood Town manager Matt Lawlor praised the players for making the club proud.
He said: “I just can’t believe it. The biggest night in the club’s history in terms of opposition coming to town and we’ve managed to beat the champions.
“We’re not stupid enough and not egotistical enough that you think we’re going to out-play the best team in the country and the most organised team in the country.
“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.
“I’m just so glad that the lads have the feeling the way they are and took that performance into make that town, the club, everyone proud.”
Fleetwood Town currently occupy the fourth position in English fourth division League.
It was their biggest win in their history, and they will find out their next opponent in the quarter-finals after the Liverpool and Chelsea game on Wednesday.
Arsenal have become the first reigning Premier League champions to be eliminated from the League Cup by a fourth-tier club.
It’s only the second time Arsenal have suffered a League Cup defeat to fourth-tier opposition:
→ Bradford City (2012/13)
→ Fleetwood Town (2026/27)
