Historic Upset in the EFL Cup: Fleetwood Town Knock Arsenal Out on Penalties!

Fleetwood Town pulled off a remarkable upset that will go down in football history, beating Premier League giants Arsenal 5-3 on penalties in the EFL Cup.

Arsenal's first match in 20 years at a ground bearing the name Highbury Stadium ended in bitter disappointment. With the game finishing 1-1 in normal time, Max Dowman was sent off in the closing stages, and Bruno Guimaraes's miss in the shootout sealed the London club's fate.

Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch became the hero by saving Guimaraes's penalty, while Conor Haughey's spot kick secured the most memorable win in the club's history.

Early in the match, play was briefly halted because of a drone flying over the stadium. Arsenal struggled to find their rhythm after the restart and fell behind in the 21st minute. Loupalo-Bi got the better of Marli Salmon before beating Illan Meslier with a neat finish to put his side 1-0 up.

Jurrien Timber failed to make the most of a header late in the first half, and head coach Mikel Arteta acted immediately at the break. Ben White replaced Timber, while Martin Odegaard came on for Salmon.

The changes paid off, and Arsenal equalised in the 50th minute. In a move down the left flank, Gyökeres pounced on a ball the Fleetwood defence failed to clear and made it 1-1.

Kai Havertz came close to putting Arsenal ahead when Lynch parried Dowman's shot, but Rhys Bennett produced a crucial intervention to deny him. Moments later, Havertz was again found by an Odegaard through ball but failed to hit the target, and Arsenal's pressure faded from that point on.

In the 85th minute, Dowman was shown a straight red card for a rough challenge on Andy Cannon following a duel between the two, leaving Arsenal with 10 men. In the remaining minutes Lynch produced a superb save to keep out a Ben White effort that could have won it, and in the shootout he dived to his left to deny Guimaraes.

Haughey then stepped up and made no mistake, as Fleetwood, 18th in League Two, England's fourth tier, knocked out one of the cup favourites.

Despite the 84 places separating the two clubs in the English football pyramid, Matt Lawlor's side were the heroes of the night thanks to their resilience and belief against their illustrious opponents. Fleetwood, who managed just 3 shots in 90 minutes with 2 on target, produced one of the biggest shocks in EFL Cup history, helped by 5 crucial saves from their outstanding goalkeeper Jay Lynch.