Arteta blames ‘poor goal’ for Arsenal’s shock Carabao Cup exit to fourth-tier Fleetwood

​Arteta, however, added that he cannot fault the Arsenal players for “their attitude” and “their application”.

​By Kehinde Okeowo

​Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said his team suffered a shock exit from this year’s Carabao Cup to Fleetwood Town, who play in the fourth tier of English football, because his players conceded a “poor goal”.

​The Spanish tactician made this known on Tuesday night after the encounter while speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live.

​Arsenal were eliminated from the competition via a penalty shootout on Tuesday night after the game ended 1-1 in regulation time.

​Aaron Loupalo-Bi opened the scoring for the League Two side, before Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres levelled the game for the Gunners after the break.

​The tie was then decided via spot kicks, with Fleetwood winning 5-3 after Bruno Guimarães saw his effort saved.

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​Reacting to the loss, Arteta congratulated Fleetwood for qualifying for the quarter-finals of the cup competition.

​He, however, refused to blame his team despite losing to the lowest-ranked team in the competition, insisting they lost because they “conceded a really poor goal to start”.

​He said: “First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through to the next round, the manner that they have done it, and for us a very sad day.”

​Arteta added: “There is nothing to criticise the players for [in terms of] their attitude, their application.

​”The determination – you could see that was there from the start. Even with 10 men, we conceded a really poor goal to start with that gave them some momentum.”