Mikel Arteta has been singled out by Fleetwood Town boss Matt Lawlor for his classy behaviour in the tunnel after Arsenal's humiliating defeat. The reigning Premier League champions were eliminated from the Carabao Cup on penalties in shocking fashion on Tuesday evening.

The Gunners arrived at their fourth-round clash against the Cod Army at the aptly named Highbury Stadium, hoping to ease into the Carabao Cup last eight. However, despite fielding a strong line-up, they struggled against a resilient Fleetwood backline.

A mistake in defence allowed Aaron Loupalo-Bi to give the home side a surprise 1-0 lead in the 21st minute, but Arteta's men responded early in the second half as Viktor Gyokeres bobbled home the equaliser.

Many would have expected Arsenal to pull away then, but they did not. Fleetwood stood firm and in the 85th minute, teenage prodigy Max Dowman was shown a straight red card after an altercation with opposition defender Harrison Neal. As he headed down the tunnel, Arteta had some choice words for him.

Penalties then decided the game and Bruno Guimaraes' saved effort handed Fleetwood the chance to make history. And that's exactly what they did. Conor Haughey stepped up to seal five perfect spot-kicks from five and knock the speechless English champions out of the tournament in an upset for the ages.

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The Arsenal players and staff headed immediately down the tunnel as ecstatic fans spilt onto the pitch. And Fleetwood manager Lawlor has lauded Arteta for how he dealt with the embarrassment.

"He shook my hand two or three times and he was really, really gracious. I can imagine it's a really disappointing night for him," said Lawlor.

"But the way that he acted there, with class, is amazing. I would love to catch up with him and pick his brains, but he's been really busy with media and all the emotions that come with it.

"We've not managed to cross paths, but he said well done in the tunnel briefly and how well we did, which is obviously a show of class from him."

Arteta was just as classy in his press conference after the defeat. He said: "First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood. In the manner they did it, the atmosphere they created.

"I have nothing to fault the players for their attitude and intensity throughout the game, with 11 and with 10, but when you are playing in that superior way, you have to give nothing to the opponent.

"When we create the volume of shots and chances we did, you have to score three, four or five. You capitalise on it. If you don't, there are no margins and that's the reality. Then you have to wait and get through the round on penalties and we didn't do that.

"The probability was low with the way the game was panning out, but it's football and still with low probability, there is always a chance you could be out of the cup. We are extremely sad - but at the same time we need to congratulate the opponent."