Arsenal are out of the Carabao Cup, beaten 5-3 on penalties by League Two Fleetwood Town at Highbury Stadium after the fourth-round tie finished 1-1 in normal time on Tuesday night. Bruno Guimaraes missed his kick and Conor Haughey converted the one that sent the home side into the quarter-finals, according to Arsenal.com.

A drone, a debut and an early setback

Referee Michael Salisbury stopped play inside the opening two minutes because a drone was hovering above the ground, and the match was held up for eight minutes before resuming, Arseblog News reports. When play restarted, Piero Hincapie headed over from close range.

Mikel Arteta changed ten players from the team that defeated Everton on Saturday, with Viktor Gyokeres being the sole starter retained. Marli Salmon and Max Dowman came in from Hale End, alongside 18-year-old Ceadach O'Neill, and Illan Meslier started in goal on debut.

Fleetwood took the lead on 21 minutes. Aaron Loupalo-Bi held off Salmon and finished left-footed through the goalkeeper's legs. Arseblog argued that the young defender's part in the goal was the sort of moment that is unavoidable for a player of his experience, pointing out that he had been excellent against Ipswich in the previous round.

Prior to that, Dowman had a clear sight of goal but mishit his effort wide. Dowman also delivered decent balls that produced headed chances for Havertz and Timber, both of which were spurned before the interval.

Gyokeres levels, then Dowman is dismissed

Arsenal equalised early in the second half. O'Neill, lively on the left, put in a ball that Fleetwood's defenders failed to deal with, and Gyokeres — falling as he went — touched it beyond the goalkeeper.

Arseblog believed that was the moment the match should have turned in Arsenal's favour, but considered the ensuing play poor, as Martin Odegaard, introduced at half-time alongside Ben White, made only a limited impact. The same piece was highly critical of Havertz's display, noted that Gyokeres completed five of nine passes across the night, and said Zubimendi, playing with a broken nose, did not impose himself. Eberechi Eze came on and, in Arseblog's view, changed little. GoonerNews's player ratings gave two Arsenal players 3/10 and six others 4/10.

Dowman was sent off. Arseblog described a strong challenge on the 16-year-old that won the ball but also caught the man, after which Dowman made a slight retaliatory movement with his leg and a melee broke out. Arseblog News called the red card unjust, and Arsenal.com confirmed Salisbury dismissed Dowman as the tie moved towards spot kicks.

The shootout

Both teams converted their penalties until Guimaraes missed, leaving Haughey to win it for Fleetwood. Arsenal.It was noted by com that Arsenal had plenty of chances to win before the penalty shootout.

Arseblog's verdict was blunt: the visitors deserved what they got. It also questioned the decision to start both senior strikers, with Gyokeres up front and Havertz behind him in midfield, on a night when several fringe players were given minutes.

Liverpool up next

Arsenal return to Premier League action on Sunday 1 November, away to Liverpool at Anfield with a 4.30pm kick-off, Arsenal.com reports. That match begins a run of three consecutive away fixtures, with a trip to Slavia to follow.

Photo: Arne Müseler via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, resized.