wellnessfitpro
Key events
24 mins: Arsenal can’t make anything happen with a scrappy bit of possession in the Fleetwood area, and then Hincapie hoofs a clearance into the car park. Safe to say Arteta’s side haven’t settled.
Marli Salmon won’t want to watch that back; he let Loupalo-Bi get beyond him and his attempted late tackle only pushed the ball further away, allowing the striker to drill it clinically past Meslier. Sweet Carabao!
GOAL! Fleetwood Town 1-0 Arsenal (Loupalo-Bi 20′)
Fourth-tier Fleetwood take the lead!! It’s Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi with the opener, and Highbury goes wild!
18 mins: A first opening for Arsenal on the break as Dowman crosses to Gyokeres, who can’t prod the ball home under pressure. And then …
“Good to see Ceadach O’Neill starting. His two uncles (Paddy & Eoin Bradley) were top class GAA players for Derry,” writes John Brennan. “Eoin was also a top player in the Irish League, winning a few cups along with getting a six-game ban for urinating in Windsor Park during a televised cup semi-final.” Well, that took a turn.
15 mins: THUNK! After nice buildup work from Dowman, Lewis-Skelly goes for a 50-50 with Rooney but the Fleetwood defender prevails, and the thud of the challenge could probably be heard in Blackpool.
14 mins: Another Fleetwood long throw aimed towards veteran forward Ched Evans, and mopped up by Meslier at the far post.
12 mins: Fleetwood launch a long throw into the danger area, where it’s flicked on by Bennett – but Arsenal get it clear.
We’re back under way
The drone has now disappeared, so the referee opts to restart. There are also murky reports of the culprit being apprehended by police. So, it’s back to the game, which will have at least eight minutes added to the first half.
“Who’s the wanker with the drone?” bellow the 5,000-strong home faithful, while the referee talks to Mikel Arteta, Matt Lawlor and various security staff. And now he’s waving the players back to the tunnel!
Drone delay!
Arsenal get upfield early on and have a free kick … but play is suspended as the referee, Michael Salisbury, peers up at a distant light in the sky. There’s a drone hovering over Highbury, and it’ll need to be dealt with somehow.
On grounds with the same(ish) name, Tim Gutteridge writes: “I give you Liverpool (Anfield) and Stirling Albion who, until 1993, played their home games at Annfield (with an extra N).”
“The similarities don’t stop there. For much of their history, Stirling Albion played in an all-red strip. And between 1970 and 1973 they were managed by Bob Shankly, the older brother of Liverpool’s Bill.”
First half
Arsenal kick off, in their navy away threads with red and yellow strip. Fleetwood’s home kit is an Arsenal-esque red number with white sleeves.
The players are out on the pitch, in a fug of firework smoke after some very rapid-fire pyro greeted their arrival. Peter Drury, never knowingly understated, is the Sky commentator and is already talking nights with the stars, marble halls and “two teams galaxies apart”. Let’s go!
“I like to root for the underdog, so fingers crossed the Fishermen of the Cod Army will catch a really big one today!” cheers Peter Oh. It may interest you, Peter, that Fleetwood have a sub called Andy Cannon – surely destined to come on and sink the Gunners.
“‘Arsenal have paid us a lot of respect by naming such a strong team’?Not sure why Matt Lawlor’s being so polite, Arteta’s taking the proverbial Michael with that side. Three kids and a goalie on debut?” writes Dave Estherby. To be fair, one of those kids is Max Dowman, and there are a few first-team regulars in there.
Here’s the Fleetwood head coach, Matt Lawlor: “We’ve had to make changes, with the champions in town. But we’ve got a plan with substitutions to manage the game. Arsenal have paid us a lot of respect by naming such a strong team … it’s a very difficult challenge, but one we should enjoy, and not be overawed.”
“I was just thinking, with the two Highburys – I can only think of the St James(’) Parks (Exeter and Newcastle), but are there any other grounds with very similar names?” asks Shaun T.
“It’s very special, coming to these kinds of grounds – it’s proper English football,” says Mikel Arteta. “In these kinds of conditions, you’re in or you’re out. It’s great to have Marli, Max and Ceadach with us, Ilhan Meslier as well who is making his first appearance for us.” His advice to those young Gunners? “Give me a headache, give me a problem – give me a reason to play you.”
There is one other fourth-round Carabao Cup tie tonight, and it’s an all-League One affair. Bradford City, finalists in 2013, host Robbie Savage’s Peterborough – guaranteeing that at least one third-tier side will make the quarter-finals. Like the match at Highbury, it will go to penalties if still level after 90 minutes – and there’s no VAR.
So, Ilhan Meslier makes his debut in goal for Arsenal, with Christian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie starting as they return from injury; Martin Zubimendi also gets a run-out, while youngsters Max Dowman, Marli Salmon and Ceadach O’Neill all included in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI.
Team news
Fleetwood Town (3-5-2): Lynch, Haughey, Potter, Bennett; Rooney, Neal, McLean, Helm, Batty; Evans, Loupalo-Bi.
Subs: Pradic, Andrew, Cannon, Davies, Thomas, Murphy, Coughlan, Robertson, Cirino.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Meslier; Timber, Mosquera, Salmon, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly; Dowman, Havertz, O’Neill; Gyokeres.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, White, Odegaard, Eze, Konsa, Guimaraes, Hashi, Washington, Harriman-Annous.
Referee: Michael Salisbury (Lancashire)
Will Unwin
To give everyone a flavour of conditions, it is blowing a gale around the rather quaint Highbury Stadium, almost blowing my laptop onto the pitch. Mikel Arteta will not be too worried about his players adapting to the conditions and will see a front pairing of Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyökeres as integral to killing this game off as soon as possible.
Fleetwood, however, are here to give the Gunners a bloody nose at the very least. They know how to utilise the conditions to their favour and will be straight into the faces of the Premier League champions. They may sit 18th in League Two, but they saw off Sheffield United in the last round and will fancy doing likewise in front of a packed ground.
Some sad news to bring you: Peter Dobing, the captain of Stoke’s 1972 League Cup winning side, has died at the age of 87.
Dobing made 377 appearances over a decade with the Potters and also played for Blackburn and Manchester City. He captained Stoke to glory as they beat Chelsea 2-1 to clinch their first (and only) major trophy, before his playing career was ended by injury just one year later.
Stoke said in a statement: “All at Stoke are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our ’72 League Cup-winning captain Peter Dobing at the age of 87. The thoughts and sincere condolences of all are with Peter’s friends and family at this immensely difficult time.”
Some essential pre-match reading here from Will Unwin, our man on the Fylde coast tonight.
Preamble
Some Arsenal fans spent years pining for one more game at Highbury Stadium; tonight, they finally get their wish. This particular Highbury is 250 miles northwest of Islington – the home of Fleetwood Town, a team the Gunners have never played before.
While their League Two form could hardly be less remarkable (18th place, with 14 points from 13 games), Fleetwood have picked off Chesterfield, Shrewsbury and second-tier Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup without conceding a goal, earning a last-16 glamour tie against the English champions.
With a trip to Anfield looming on Sunday, Mikel Arteta is expected to give his weariest stars a rest. Young talents like Marli Salmon, Ceadach O’Neill and, yes, Max Dowman are expected to start. They can expect testing conditions at a seaside ground where “the wind goes in all directions”.
Of course, even a depleted and under-experienced Arsenal side will be hot favourites to advance, but this has all the makings of a classic midweek Cup test. Kick-off: 8pm GMT.
#Fleetwood #Town #Arsenal #Carabao #Cup #fourth #live #Carabao #Cup
