It’s been more than 20 years since Arsenal last played at Highbury, but their League Two trip to Fleetwood – and a stadium of the same name – did not bring back fond memories as they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties. It was the team with the red shirts and white sleeves that triumphed, but on this occasion they caused one of the greatest upsets in the history of English football.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi and Viktor Gyökeres exchanged goals during normal time, but Arsenal failed to find a winner, despite being the dominant force, as Fleetwood fought on until the end. Home manager Matt Lawlor was almost in tears, unable to cope after the tension was released when Conor Haughey smashed the ball into the top corner to settle the shootout.
This happened after Jay Lynch saved Bruno Guimarães, a former warehouse worker who had arrested the Brazil international. These are the scenarios that everyone wants but so rarely gets in the sanitized world of modern football.
Fleetwood aimed to make £400,000 from the night, but ended up getting something priceless. Everyone in attendance will never forget watching the fourth division side knock out the Premier League champions. Sure, they had to take their chances and were helped by Max Dowman’s questionable sending off, but football is rarely about logic, it’s about emotion. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime Cod Army experience for anyone at their level, and they enjoyed it.
A year ago, Lawlor wasn’t even a football manager, he never played professionally and started his coaching career at the Manchester United Foundation. Lynch had spent much of his career outside the league, only dreaming of playing against a team who had narrowly lost the Champions League final in the spring.
Everyone expected a routine victory, although Mikel Arteta gave the youngsters the chance to impress. If Arteta wanted to test his youngsters, Marli Salmon’s naivety was demonstrated by Loupalo-Bi, on loan from Fulham.
He learned his trade in the fourth division this season and put into practice the skill of using his body against a defender, turning and holding the 17-year-old before passing under Illan Meslier to take off for the second time of the evening.
By then, the game had already had a six-minute delay due to a drone flying over the field. Referee Michael Salisbury had to send the players away while police searched outside the field for the culprit. It was an unusual start to what became an extraordinary night on the Fylde Coast. It started with a plethora of pyrotechnics that created a red mist on the field and, frankly, it never dissipated, literally or metaphorically.
The first half was laborious for Arsenal, unable to create anything meaningful, constantly thwarted by the disciplined defense, well organized by Lawlor and his team. The Gunners were pedestrian against a team happy to see them go through the motions. Kai Havertz missed the best chance to equalize before the break but his header was wayward, summing up a difficult match for him.
After the break it was different as Martin Ødegaard became Arsenal’s quarterback, creating the rhythm they sorely lacked. He brought cohesion and intensity, putting them back in the match.
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It was Gyökeres who equalized and few would have doubted Arsenal would win the match, but Fleetwood held on.
The home team had been direct from the start, accepting their limitations and knowing that the conditions would help them. The swirling wind helped keep the ball in the sky and confuse defenders unaccustomed to strong sea winds.
Fleetwood’s robust play irritated Arsenal and Dowman was sold out, getting himself sent off for reacting to chief enforcer Harrison Neal. He was the second Gunners teenager to learn a valuable life lesson outside the top flight after Salmon was exposed for the goal.
It may have been harsh, but it was unnecessarily testy from Dowman on an already difficult night for his team. Mikel Arteta had a word with him as he left. What did Arteta say? “Something we already discussed before the game.”
Arsenal had two late chances through Ben White and Gyökeres to settle the game before needing penalties, but Lynch produced two fantastic saves as the clock ticked past 90 minutes to ensure a fittingly dramatic finale, where he could once again be the hero of a big night for football and the town of Fleetwood.
Gn sports
