The Premier League champions crashed out of the Carabao Cup on penalties to a fourth-tier side, and now face a race against the clock to clear their teenage forward before Sunday’s trip to Liverpool.
Arsenal are going to the Football Association (FA), the governing body of English football, to challenge the red card shown to 16-year-old Max Dowman during the club's surprise Carabao Cup exit at Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night.
Daily Guide Network reports that the paperwork for the appeal must reach the FA by 1 p.m. on Thursday, and the club is hoping a ruling comes through before Arsenal travel to Liverpool on Sunday.
How the red card happened
Dowman was dismissed in the 85th minute after kicking out at Fleetwood's Harrison Neal, who had just caught him with a heavy challenge. Manager Mikel Arteta had a short word with the teenager as he walked off the pitch.
If the appeal fails, the suspension would bite immediately, which is why the club wants the matter settled before the weekend.
A fourth-tier side knocks out the champions
Fleetwood Town play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Arsenal are the reigning Premier League champions. On paper there was no contest. On the night, there was.
Arteta made nine changes to his starting line-up and the first half showed it. Aaron Loupalo-Bi put Fleetwood ahead in the 21st minute against an Arsenal side that never settled.
Captain Martin Odegaard came on at half-time and the game turned quickly, with Viktor Gyokeres levelling the score. But Dowman's dismissal left Arsenal a man down, and the match went to a penalty shootout at 1-1.
There, Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch took over. After a miss from the spot, 19-year-old Fleetwood defender Conor Haughey scored the decisive penalty to send his club into the quarter-finals in one of the biggest shocks the competition has seen.
"We need to do better"
Odegaard did not hide from the result but urged his teammates to move on fast.
"It's very frustrating to go out," the Norwegian said, adding that the performance "was not on the level."
He also gave Fleetwood their due, saying the home side "did well so we have to give them credit," while insisting the main problem was Arsenal's own standard of play. He said the team improved as the match went on but still needed to step up.
Why Ghanaian fans are watching
Arsenal carry one of the largest supporter bases in Ghana, and matchday crowds fill viewing centres from Accra to Kumasi, with diaspora fans in the United States following the early kick-offs. The Carabao Cup is England's secondary knockout competition, so the exit does not touch Arsenal's league title defence, but it closes one route to silverware this season.
Attention now shifts to Sunday at Liverpool, and to whether Dowman will be available.
