Fleetwood Town secured a historic 5-3 penalty shootout victory over Arsenal at Highbury to advance to the EFL Cup quarter-finals. The Fishermen won 1-1 after 90 minutes, but Arsenal were forced to send out teenager Max Dowman for a red card in the second half. With Dowman sent off, Arsenal were down 10 players while Fleetwood remained intact.
To maintain equal numbers, Fleetwood had to nominate defender Jake Batty to sit out the shootout, making it a 10-vs-10 contest. This was the first time Fleetwood Town reached the EFL Cup knockout stages. The win marks a significant achievement for the club, and the substitution of Jake Batty was necessary to comply with Law 10.3 of the IFAB rules, which require teams to reduce to equal numbers when one side is down players.
Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury noted that Fleetwood had to choose Jake Batty as the player not taking part in the shootout due to Dowman's sending off.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing