Arsenal Fans Unhappy With Star Who Was ‘Pathetic’ vs Fleetwood

In one of the all-time great Carabao Cup shocks, Arsenal lost on penalties to League Two outfit Fleetwood Town.

On Tuesday night, the Carabao Cup took centre stage as Fleetwood Town welcomed Premier League champions Arsenal to the Highbury Stadium.

Despite making a host of changes to his starting line-up, Mikel Arteta’s men were still the overwhelming favourites to advance to the next round of the Carabao Cup. However, in the first half, Aaron Loupalo-Bi, who is on loan from Premier League side Fulham, scored in the 21st minute to give Fleetwood Town a surprise 1-0 lead.

The Gunners trailed as the half-time whistle went, with Arteta, who was at the Ballon d’Or event on Monday night, bringing on Ben White and Martin Odegaard at the start of the second period, replacing Jurrien Timber and Marli Salmon.

Arteta’s half-time team talk worked a treat as Viktor Gyokeres equalised for the Gunners just five minutes into the second half. The Gunners continued to push for the winner, but eventually, the match ended in a 1-1 draw – with Max Dowman sent off during the dying stages.

The game went to penalties and Arsenal midfielder Bruno Guimaraes was the only man to miss from 12 yards as Fleetwood picked up a famous win.

Arsenal Fans Slam Martin Zubimendi’s Performance vs Fleetwood Town

Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra

During the match against Fleetwood Town, Gunners fans were left disappointed with Martin Zubimendi’s performance.

The Spaniard, who is a World Cup winner, started in midfield alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly, but largely struggled to make a positive impact.

Taking to social media, one fan said: “Can see why Zubimendi doesn’t play. Been pathetic.”

Another tweeted: “Mate Zubimendi is a terrible player! He doesn’t do anything at all!”

A third fan added: “That corner and awful touch from Zubimendi summed up that half.”

Someone else wrote: “When are we gonna have an honest conversation about Zubimendi.”

A fifth commented: “Zubimendi is not good enough man.”

Another fan said: “Zubimendi is so useless,” while another social media user claimed: “Zubimendi fell off so bad, even against Fleetwood he still couldn’t find his rhythm in the midfield.”

Before being taken off and replaced by Bruno Guimaraes in the 82nd minute, Zubimendi managed a pass success rate of 88.9%, completing 64 out of 72 attempts. The 27-year-old also lost possession nine times while making just two tackles.

Back in the summer of 2025, Zubimendi left boyhood club Real Sociedad and joined Arsenal in a deal worth a reported fee of £55.8 million, having previously rejected a move to Liverpool.

Since then, the Spaniard has made 67 appearances for the North London giants, scoring six goals in the process. Following the arrival of Guimaraes this summer, Zubimendi has seen his minutes drastically reduced.

Looking ahead, Arsenal will have to rediscover their best form ahead of a mouth-watering Premier League clash against rivals Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.