Arteta: Arsenal’s unlikely League Cup exit became reality against Fleetwood

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the chances of his side being eliminated from the English League Cup had appeared very small, but that unlikely outcome became reality as they lost to Fleetwood.

Arsenal were beaten on penalties in the last 16 after the match ended 1-1 following normal time.

“Given the way the game unfolded, the possibility of us going out was very small,” Arteta said after the match. “But even when the chances are low, you can still be eliminated from a competition, and that is exactly what happened.”

Arteta congratulated Fleetwood on reaching the next round and praised the atmosphere created by the home side.

“I congratulate Fleetwood on qualifying,” he said. “They put in a brilliant performance and created a special atmosphere. I cannot blame the players after this defeat.”

The Arsenal manager said his team had worked hard throughout the match, including after being reduced to 10 men following Doman’s dismissal.

“We made a huge effort throughout the game, both when we had 11 players and after we went down to 10 following Doman’s red card,” Arteta added.

He felt Arsenal had controlled the contest for long periods and limited Fleetwood to very few opportunities.

“We completely controlled the game and did not give the opposition any chances apart from that first moment, when we defended extremely poorly and conceded,” he said.

Arteta also believed Arsenal had created enough opportunities to settle the tie before it reached a shootout.

“We created many chances and made repeated attempts to attack inside the opposition’s penalty area,” he said. “We should have scored four or five goals to decide the match, but we did not.”

The tie was ultimately decided by penalties, with the outcome going against Arsenal.

“That is the reality, and there is no room for mistakes,” Arteta said. “In the end, we reached the penalty shootout, and it did not go in our favour.”