Fleetwood v Arsenal LIVE: Carabao Cup minnows knock out champions in huge shock after Max Dowman sent off

Mikel Arteta has revealed what he said to Max Dowman as he walked off the pitch was to do with “something we discussed already before the match”.

On the 16-year-old’s red card, Arteta added: “When we prepared the context of the match, we were very clear on the things to respect, the things that emotionally we have to dominate, it was very clear.”

The teeanger was on the receiving end of a heavy challenge from behind from the Fleetwood midfielder Harrison Neal, who lunged at him from behind near the touchline.

Dowman kicked out at Neal in response to his tackle, sparking a brawl between the teams as the Fleetwood players reacted angrily to his retaliation.

The referee Michael Salisbury, who did not have VAR available, showed Dowman a straight-red card for violent conduct, leaving Arsenal down to 10 men.

In the delirium of Fleetwood Town’s victory over Premier League champions Arsenal, in perhaps the biggest shock in Carabao Cup history, there were no secrets, no hidden tactics.

Instead, manager Matt Lawlor celebrated the greatest win of his career and the most momentous night in Fleetwood’s history with disarming honesty.

Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor was on brilliant form after his side’s victory over Arsenal, revealing that his players had not even practiced penalties this week!

“I’m not going to blag that we had some meticulous penalties, we haven’t,” he told Sky Sports.

“The lads took care of themselves. We have a 19-year-old centre back that took the last one.

“I was a little bit worried when he was walking up, but Conor [Haughey] backs himself. I was just so pleased we even took it to that and whatever happened, happened.”

Aside from the Max Dowman red card, Mikel Arteta said he had “zero” problem with his team’s attitude.

“Otherwise I would be here absolutely fuming,” he said. “I’m sad, I think we are all sad. We have a massive responsibility to carry this badge in the best possible way.

“It had nothing to do with effort or application or determination to win it, but we lack other things to, to create a much bigger margin than today, with what we produce, they really should have been shown in the scoreline.”

He also praised Fleetwood, and said: “First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through to the next round in the manner they’ve done it.

“A really sad day for us. I cannot fault at all the attitude of the players, I haven’t seen anybody not doing what is required at this level but we had so much of the ball, had so many chances, so man shots and if you want the margins to be bigger than going to penalties, you have to capitalise on that.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refused to provide further explanation to his angry reaction to Max Dowman’s red card in the Carabao Cup defeat to Fleetwood Town.

Arteta appeared to have harsh words for Dowman, the 16-year-old Arsenal prodigy, following the first red card of his senior career, which came as the Gunners lost on penalties.

The incident took place on the opposite side of the pitch to Arteta’s dugout but the manager appeared to have sharp words for Dowman as he left the pitch.

And Arteta said he still had to watch the incident back before commenting on it, but it was notable that he had no comforting words of support for the forward.

“It’s difficult to see on the cameras like that so I’d prefer to watch it back properly so I can assess the situation,” he told Sky Sports.

Asked if the 16-year-old can learn from the red card because of his young age, Arteta replied: “Yeah, we all learn from everything, yeah.”

❌ Champions League final against PSG

❌ Carabao Cup fourth round against Fleetwood

A wonderful interview from Matt Lawlor, the Fleetwood manager. He admits his side did not practice penalties this week, as they didn’t think they would make it that far against the Premier League champions. He admits he didn’t realise the tie went straight to penalties and there was no extra time!

He told Sky Sports: “I couldn’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 somehow.

“We’re not egotistical enough to think we’re going to play the best team in the country and outplay them, so we had to ride our luck, deny space, deny options for them and we did that really well for the majority of the game.”

Who do Fleetwood want next in the quarter-finals? They could get a Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea… or could they get Bradford, who reached the last eight by beating Peterborough tonight!

Bradford City 2-0 Peterborough United

Fleetwood Town 1-1 Arsenal (Fleetwood won 5-3 on pens)

Manchester City vs Brighton and Hove Albion

Bournemouth vs Aston Villa

So much reaction to come: particularly from Mikel Arteta. He said Arsenal’s standards had to be “through the roof” against Fleetwood but they were on the floor at Highbury. And what will be say about Max Dowman’s red card? Arteta looked furious with the 16-year-old as he made his way off the pitch.

Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch, who was man of the match and saved Bruno Guimaraes’ penalty in the shoot-out, tells Sky Sports that his side were inspired by Grimsby knocking Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup last season.

“My voice has gone from organising the defence, but the whole team throughout the game were magnificent.

“To beat the English champions on penalties, credit to everyone one of these lads.

“We looked at Grimsby beating Man Utd last year. We compared it even though these are the champions. We thought ‘if we lay it all out there, let’s see what happens’.”