Fleetwood Town knock Arsenal out of Carabao Cup on penalties after 1-1 draw

A 1-1 draw and a penalty shootout

Fleetwood Town beat Arsenal 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Highbury Stadium in Fleetwood on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup. Fleetwood sit 18th in League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and the two clubs are separated by 84 positions in the English pyramid. Arsenal, the Premier League champions, had most of the possession but could not turn it into a winning goal. The result sends the League Two side into the quarter-finals and ranks among the greatest upsets in the competition's history.

How the goals came

Aaron Loupalo-Bi, a Fulham loanee, gave Fleetwood the lead in the 21st minute by taking advantage of a mistake from Marli Salmon and finishing past Illan Meslier, who had been given a surprise start in the Arsenal goal. Viktor Gyokeres equalised in the 50th minute, his first goal of the season according to RTE, after Martin Odegaard came on at half-time and Arsenal began to look more fluent. The game then turned sharply when Max Dowman, aged 16, was shown a straight red card in the 85th minute after kicking out following a wild challenge by Harrison Neal. Cameras showed Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta speaking sternly to the teenager as he walked down the tunnel. The fixture was also halted for over eight minutes when a drone flew over the pitch.

The shootout

Jay Lynch made saves from Ben White and Odegaard before the shootout began. Fleetwood were perfect from the spot, and Lynch saved Bruno Guimaraes' penalty, which proved the decisive moment for the home side. Will Davies and Ronan Coughlan were among the Fleetwood scorers, while Havertz and Odegaard scored for Arsenal. Conor Haughey, a teenage Fleetwood defender, scored the winning penalty with a strike that sent Fleetwood supporters onto the pitch. Haughey plays for the Northern Ireland Under-21s, and Fleetwood manager Matt Lawlor previously took charge of Waterford FC in 2025.

Arsenal's record and what comes next

This is not the first time Arsenal have fallen to lower-league opposition in the League Cup. The club lost on penalties to then League Two side Bradford City in December 2012, and in October 2015 they were beaten 3-0 by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. Arsenal's next fixture is at Anfield against Liverpool on Sunday, 1 November 2026.

Another fourth-round result

Bradford also reached the quarter-finals, beating Peterborough 2-0 at Valley Parade. Macaulay Gillesphey turned in a Callum Connolly corner to give Bradford the lead on 13 minutes, and Adam Phillips doubled their advantage on 67 minutes. It is Bradford's first quarter-final place since they reached Wembley in 2013.