Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the fourth-round stage by League Two Fleetwood Town, losing a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night. The tie ended with 16-year-old Max Dowman sent off and Mikel Arteta visibly furious with him.

Dowman dismissed in the closing stages

According to the Daily Make, the teenage winger received a straight red card in the closing stages after he reacted to a challenge by Harrison Neal. A melee broke out when Dowman, after Neal slid in on him, seemed to aim a kick at the Fleetwood player in response. Arsenal had to see out the final part of the match with only ten players.

As Dowman made his way off, Arteta walked towards him and appeared to address him sternly, with the exchange caught on camera. The Make reported that the Arsenal manager appeared to scold the youngster.

Paul Merson, speaking on Sky Sports, expressed concerns about the incident at full-time. Sky Sports reported that the former Arsenal player was critical of Arteta's reaction to the dismissal.

Fleetwood take their chance from the spot

Fleetwood, who had already knocked out Sheffield United to reach this round, took a first-half lead through Aaron Loupalo-Bi, a loanee from Fulham. Viktor Gyokeres drew Arsenal level a few minutes into the second half; the Mirror reported that he swung a leg at the ball while falling over and just did enough to see it trickle over the line.

Before this fixture, the Mirror pointed out that Gyokeres had failed to score in each of his first ten outings this season.

In the shootout, Fleetwood scored all five of their penalties, while Bruno Guimaraes missed from the spot for Arsenal, with the Mirror reporting that his kick was saved. That sent Fleetwood into the quarter-finals with what the Mirror described as the best result in their history.

Rotation, a drone delay and a changed plan

Arteta named a heavily rotated side, with Dowman, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ceadach O'Neill and Marli Salmon all in the starting XI. The Mirror reported that kick-off was delayed by eight minutes because of a drone above the stadium. According to Daily Cannon, it was Arsenal's first visit to Fleetwood's Highbury Stadium.

The Mirror suggested Salmon could have done better on Fleetwood's goal after Loupalo-Bi got away from him, and Ben White came on for him at half-time. Captain Martin Odegaard also came on at half-time, with Bruno Guimaraes and Eberechi Eze introduced later in the game.

Before kick-off, Arteta had stressed the importance of respecting the occasion, saying: "Our reputation, our pride, everything is in play." Fleetwood manager Matt Lawlor had said his players should be excited rather than overawed, adding: "The respect is through the roof, but the fear can't be through the roof."

Attention turns to Anfield

Arsenal are next in action in the Premier League on Sunday 1 November, away to Liverpool at Anfield, with a 16:30 UK kick-off.

In the Mirror's assessment, neither Gyokeres nor Kai Havertz produced enough in this display to make a case for starting as the main striker in that match.

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