Fleetwood beat Arsenal on penalties after reducing to 10 players for shootout
Fleetwood Town beat Arsenal 5-3 on penalties in the EFL Cup after being required to remove a player from the shootout because Arsenal had finished the match with 10 men.
Fleetwood Town advanced to the EFL Cup quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history by beating Arsenal 5-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes. The shootout, however, began with an unusual condition: Fleetwood had to leave one player out.
The imbalance stemmed from Arsenal teenager Max Dowman being sent off in the second half, leaving the Gunners with 10 players at the end of the match. Under Law 10.3 of the International Football Association Board's laws of the game, a team with more players than its opponent at the end of the match, or before or during the kicks, must reduce its numbers to match. The referee must be told the name and number of each excluded player, and those players cannot take part in the kicks. The rule also applies to goalkeepers defending penalties.
Fleetwood therefore named defender Jake Batty as the player to sit out the shootout, making it 10 against 10. Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury explained the situation on air, noting that Fleetwood had to nominate a player because of Dowman's sending off.
The result sends Fleetwood into the quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history, while the shootout itself was shaped by a rule designed to keep the contest even after Arsenal's dismissal.
Image: Getty Images / BBC Sport
