The surprising defeat to Fleetwood, a team 84 places below Arsenal in the football pyramid, was made even worse by the fact that the Gunners’ under-21 team had beaten AFC Wimbledon, a team in a division higher than the hosts, on the same night in the EFL Trophy.
The first incident of the game occurred with less than two minutes on the clock when play was stopped for more than eight minutes when a drowning man was thrown off the field.
Perhaps Arsenal should have taken this as a warning.
Arteta named an experimental team and debuted 18-year-old Ceadach O’Neill, 17-year-old Marli Salmon starting in central defense, 16-year-old Dowman on the wing while goalkeeper Illan Meslier also made his first start for the club.
But the Gunners boss has surrounded that inexperience with seasoned internationals such as Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapie, World Cup winner Martin Zubimendi, Champions League winner Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.
All of these players played an important role in the Gunners’ Premier League victory last season.
However, even after introducing captain Martin Odegaard and signing Bruno Guimaraes for £75 million on the bench, Arsenal produced a poor performance.
“First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for getting through the next round. The way they did it, and for us it’s a very sad day.” Arteta spoke about the result.
“There is nothing to reproach the players for their attitude, their application. The determination, we could see, it was there from the start.
“Even with ten men, we conceded a very poor goal at the start, which gave them a bit of momentum.”
The defeat in this competition is not the Gunners’ first, but it means they have not won the League Cup for 33 years.
In 2012, Arsenal lost to League Two side Bradford City on penalties and they were also beaten by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in 2015 at the same stadium.
With Dowman now suspended, Saka out for around six weeks, Tzolis working to return and Arteta revealing after the match that Madueke was unavailable due to injury, their options in the wide areas for the match against Liverpool on Sunday appear slim.
Gn sports
