Arsenal Morning Round-Up, Wednesday 28th October 2026: Gunners Stunned by League Two Fleetwood in Carabao Cup Shootout Shock
Well, nobody saw that coming. Arsenal suffered one of the great cup shocks overnight, beaten by League Two Fleetwood Town on penalties in the Carabao Cup fourth round at Highbury Stadium (Sky Sports) (The Guardian) (Arsenal.com). Viktor Gyokeres had levelled for the Gunners early in the second half after Fleetwood had taken the lead, with the game finishing 1-1 before the hosts won the shootout 5-3 (Sky Sports) (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com). It's being described as one of the biggest upsets in League Cup history, with BBC Sport noting a staggering 83-place gap between the two clubs in the league pyramid (BBC Sport) (BBC Sport). Gyokeres did at least get off the mark for the season with his equaliser on the night (Arsenal.com).
The talking point beyond the result itself was Max Dowman's red card and Mikel Arteta's animated reaction as the 16-year-old went down the tunnel (Sky Sports) (Football.London) (Sky Sports). Arteta has since explained what he said to Dowman amid criticism of his touchline conduct, with Paul Merson among those questioning the manager's response (Sky Sports) (Sky Sports) (Football.London). Arsenal.com carried the manager's post-match thoughts in full, with Arteta saying the club "need to take this on the chin" (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com) (Arsenal.com). Martin Odegaard was equally frank, admitting "we were not at our level" on the night (Arsenal.com). Football.London also reported Arteta touched on three injured Arsenal players and a doubt for the upcoming Liverpool game during his press duties (Football.London) (Football.London).
On the Fleetwood side, manager Matt Lawlor - born and raised locally - spoke of the joy of celebrating with people he grew up with, and admitted his side hadn't even practised penalties before the shootout (Sky Sports) (The Guardian) (BBC Sport).
Away from the cup exit, Football.London reports Arsenal have been given a "hands off" warning after Atletico Madrid ruled out selling Julian Alvarez in January (Football.London), while Germany striker Nicolo Tresoldi is reportedly being watched by Arsenal among other clubs, with his transfer stance said to have emerged (BBC Sport) (Football.London).
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.