Arsenal lose appeal against Max Dowman’s red card in Fleetwood defeat

FLASHPOINT: Arsenal will appeal against Max Dowman’s red card in Tuesday night’s shock Carabao Cup defeat to League Two Fleetwood.

Arsenal’s appeal against Max Dowman’s red card in their Carabao Cup defeat at Fleetwood and the suspension imposed has been rejected by an independent commission.

Sixteen-year-old Dowman was sent off for a kick out at Harrison Neal following a bruising tackle in the 85th minute of the tie, which the Gunners lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Arsenal subsequently lodged an appeal, but the Football Association confirmed on Thursday an independent commission had dismissed claims of both wrongful dismissal and excessive punishment for Dowman.

The FA said the written reasons for the commission’s decision to dismiss the claims would be published in due course.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said after Tuesday’s match he had not spoken to Dowman about his dismissal, but added: “When we prepared the context of the match, we were very clear on the things to respect, the things that emotionally we have to dominate, it was very clear.” After Bruno Guimaraes was denied from 12 yards, Fleetwood’s 19-year-old defender Conor Haughey stepped up to fire the hosts into the quarter-finals with one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history.

Arsenal fell behind to Aaron Loupalo-Bi’s 21st-minute strike in a disjointed first-half performance after Arteta made nine changes.

Martin Odegaard was introduced at half-time and Viktor Gyokeres quickly levelled, but Dowman was dismissed before Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch starred in the shootout to secure a memorable victory.

PA