Premier League champions Arsenal suffered a humiliating Carabao Cup exit at the hands of League Two side Fleetwood Town.
In a dramatic encounter that saw Gunners starlet Max Dowman receive his marching orders, the fourth-tier club secured one of the most memorable results in their history.
The match itself was delayed by eight minutes due to a drone hovering above the stadium. Once the action got underway, the hosts grabbed the opener through Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi.
Arsenal leveled just minutes into the second half through Viktor Gyökeres, before Dowman was dismissed for lashing out following a heavy challenge. The tie then headed to a penalty shootout, where Bruno Guimarães saw his spot-kick stopped, sending Fleetwood through to the quarter-finals, as per The Mirror.
Hale End nightmare
It came as little surprise to see significant rotation in the lineup ahead of kickoff, with several academy graduates handed their opportunity by Mikel Arteta. Dowman, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ceadach O'Neill, and Marli Salmon all earned starting berths.
Dowman unsurprisingly posed the greatest threat and came close to teeing up Gyökeres for the opener, though the Swedish striker couldn't quite stretch far enough to connect with his cross. The youngster also deserves credit for his willingness to track back and contribute defensively in the closing stages.
However, his evening turned sour in the dying minutes when he was sent off after lashing out and sparking a mass brawl. Manager Arteta was visibly incensed by the teenager — and understandably so, given the petulance of his reaction.
It was equally an underwhelming night for defender Salmon. He could arguably have dealt more effectively with the Fleetwood goal, having been shaken off by Loupalo-Bi, who finished calmly. Salmon was subsequently substituted at halftime in favor of Ben White.
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Gyökeres scoring struggles continue
A fixture against a League Two club should have represented the ideal opportunity for Gyökeres to finally kick-start his season. The former Sporting Lisbon striker had failed to find the net in any of his first ten appearances of the campaign.
And it appeared set to be another frustrating night for the Swede, as he struggled to genuinely stamp his authority on the game.
He did get on the scoresheet, but even that was a scrappy effort — swinging a leg at the ball as he tumbled, barely getting enough contact to see it trickle over the line.
On this showing, neither he nor attacking partner Kai Havertz has done enough to make a compelling case to lead the line in the weekend's showdown with Liverpool.
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Arteta calls on big guns
Arsenal boss Arteta will have been hoping his side cruised through without needing to call upon his more seasoned first-team players. Yet Arsenal's display was so lackluster that the Spanish coach was forced to turn to his bench immediately, bringing on captain Martin Ødegaard and White at the interval.
Guimarães and Eberechi Eze were also thrown into the action after the break. The substitutions made an immediate impression ahead of Gyökeres' equalizer, but Arsenal ultimately fell short of securing victory within the 90 minutes.
And it was one of his key players, Guimarães, whose miss sent Arsenal crashing out of the cup.