Conor Haughey seals Fleetwood shock with decisive penalty at Highbury

Fleetwood Town defender Conor Haughey scored the decisive penalty as the League Two side eliminated Premier League champions Arsenal from the Carabao Cup in a 5-3 shootout at Highbury on Tuesday.

Haughey, a teenager who became the youngest player in Glentoran history when he debuted as a 15-year-old against Lisburn Distillery in September 2022, moved to Fleetwood in the summer of 2023 and is a Northern Ireland Under-21 international. He volunteered to take a spot-kick after Viktor Gyokeres had cancelled out Aaron Loupalo-Bi's opener, while Northern Ireland senior boss Michael O'Neill watched from the stands as Ceadach O'Neill made his first Arsenal start and provided an assist.

The 19-year-old confidently struck the fifth penalty, sending Arsenal keeper Illan Meslier the wrong way as his spot-kick flew into the top corner and triggered a pitch invasion at Highbury. Earlier in the shootout Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch saved a tame effort from Bruno Guimaraes, which set up Haughey's opportunity. Haughey was the fifth taker and, after scoring, ran to greet friends and family who had travelled from Belfast and who joined the mass pitch invasion.

Haughey said his phone was almost unusable after the game, adding: "My phone wouldn't work for two to three hours after the game because there were so many messages, just notifications after notifications." The defender's excited, sweary post-match interview has since gained traction on social media.

Reflecting on his reaction in the viral interview, Haughey told BBC Sport NI's Thomas Kane: "There was too many emotions going on, it was just wild. I'm from the New Lodge, I've been brought up like that and it just came out." He added: "It's been like a dream. I woke up this morning and was like 'this actually is real'. It's unbelievable and a surreal moment."

On volunteering to take the decisive kick, Haughey explained the sequence to BBC Sport NI's Thomas Kane: "We had the first four [takers] and they [the coaches] were like 'anyone else?' and I said 'yeah'." He continued: "I trust myself to hit one and luckily I went fifth. Lynchy took all the pressure off me with the save. I was a bit nervous when they (Arsenal) were hitting knowing I was going fifth. I put the ball down, knew where I was going and stuck it there and ran over to all my mates in the corner and went mad. They were the first people on the pitch. I knew when I put the ball down and hit it I'd run straight over to them."

Fleetwood sit 84 places below Arsenal in the football pyramid, and Haughey said the scale of the victory had not yet sunk in: "It's not really hit me yet. I'm here playing Fifa and some of the Arsenal players are in my team. It's just mad. I'm sitting as if nothing has happened, as if it's a normal rest day." He also said: "It's history for the fans and it's just as big a thing for us, beating the [Premier League] champions. They probably have the same buzz I had putting the ball in the back of the net. It was a great feeling." Haughey added he would be "a bit giddy" when the quarter-final draw is made following Chelsea's game against Liverpool on Wednesday night and named his preferred opponent: "Man City. Simple as that."