Haughey reflects on winning penalty as Fleetwood reach first EFL Cup quarter-final

Fleetwood Town have reached the EFL Cup quarter-finals for the first time after beating Arsenal 5-3 on penalties at Highbury Stadium on Tuesday. BBC Sport reported that the League Two club progressed following a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes, with Conor Haughey converting the decisive fifth spot-kick.

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Speaking to BBC Sport Northern Ireland the following day, Haughey said the scale of the result had yet to sink in. The 19-year-old defender described being overwhelmed by messages from friends and family in Belfast, saying his phone had been unusable for two to three hours after the match because of the volume of notifications.

Haughey told the BBC he volunteered when the coaches asked for another penalty taker after identifying their first four. Goalkeeper Jay Lynch then saved Bruno Guimaraes' effort, leaving the defender to finish the shootout. Haughey said he had decided where to place the ball before taking his kick and ran towards his friends to celebrate afterwards.

The Northern Ireland Under-21 international joined Fleetwood in summer 2023, having made his Glentoran debut at 15 in September 2022. Friends and family had travelled from Belfast to attend Tuesday's match and were among those who joined the pitch celebrations after his successful penalty.

There was also a procedural consequence to Arsenal finishing the match with 10 players. Max Dowman had been sent off in the second half, meaning Fleetwood could not involve all 11 of their remaining players in the shootout. BBC Sport's separate explanation of the incident said defender Jake Batty was selected to sit out so that both teams had equal numbers eligible to participate.

That requirement comes from Law 10.3 of the International Football Association Board's laws, according to the BBC. A team with more players than its opponent must reduce its eligible group before or during the kicks and notify the referee which players are excluded. Those excluded cannot participate in the shootout, including as a goalkeeper defending a penalty. Batty's exclusion therefore reflected the numerical difference created by Dowman's dismissal, rather than another sending-off.