Fleetwood Town goalkeeper Jay Lynch has said Arsenal's players did not take Tuesday night's EFL Cup exit well, after his penalty save helped the League Two side knock the Premier League champions out at Highbury Stadium.
Lynch kept out Bruno Guimaraes' spot kick in the shootout, which Fleetwood won 5-3 following a 1-1 draw, with Conor Haughey converting the decisive penalty to send the club into the quarter-finals.
Lynch: 'They didn't take it well'
Speaking on talkSPORT, Lynch said the pitch invasion that followed Haughey's winning penalty made it difficult for the Fleetwood players to speak to their opponents. "All the fans ran on, no one actually got chance to speak to them," he said, as reported by Football.London and Metro UK. "They didn't take it well, let's put it that way."
Lynch added that the two managers spoke briefly, but that the celebrations meant there was no opportunity to swap shirts or talk to the Arsenal squad.
How Fleetwood did it
Fleetwood, 18th in League Two, took the lead after 21 minutes when Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi outmuscled 17-year-old defender Marli Salmon and beat Illan Meslier, who was making his Arsenal debut ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga, according to Sky Sports.
In the 50th minute, Arsenal drew level after Viktor Gyokeres scored his first goal of the campaign at the back post, set up by impressive play from Cedach O'Neill, a Northern Ireland teenager making his first start. Lynch then made late saves from Ben White and Martin Odegaard to take the tie to penalties.
Sky Sports also reports that a drone hovering over the ground caused a seven-minute delay early in the match.
The Dowman red card and the numbers game
Arsenal teenager Max Dowman was sent off with five minutes remaining after kicking out towards Harrison Neal following a robust challenge, and the club have since appealed the decision. Football.London reports that Mikel Arteta appeared to berate the youngster as he left the pitch.
BBC Sport explains that because Arsenal finished the match with 10 men, Fleetwood were required to leave out a player for the shootout so both sides had the same number taking kicks. Defender Jake Batty was the player named to sit out.
Law 10.The International Football Association Board's laws, specifically number 3, state that a side with more players has to lower its count to match its opponents before or during the kicks.
"Fleetwood have to nominate a player to not take a penalty and that is Jake Batty because of Dowman's sending off, so it becomes 10 against 10," Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury said at the time, as quoted by BBC Sport.
Lynch told talkSPORT that Neal's challenge was fair and that the physical approach was deliberate. "I think it was a fair tackle," he said. He also said the poor weather suited his side, adding: "We actually wanted it as bad as possible."
Arteta: 'A really sad day'
Arteta told Sky Sports he could not fault his players' attitude. "A really sad day for us," he said. "I cannot fault at all the attitude of the players."
The Arsenal manager added: "It wasn't to do with attitude otherwise I would be here fuming." He said his side had enough possession and chances but did not make the margins bigger than a penalty shootout.
Paul Merson, speaking on Sky Sports, described the result as the biggest shock in the competition's history and singled out Odegaard for praise. "They'll be in history now for the biggest shock in the history of the League Cup," he said.
Liverpool next
Arsenal return to Premier League action on Sunday 1 November, when they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool at 16:30 UK time.












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