Manchester United crushed Newcastle United’s hopes of a claiming a first domestic trophy for nearly 70 years with a clinical 2-0 victory in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
Goals late in the first half by Casemiro and an own goal from Sven Botman silenced the hordes of Newcastle fans who flocked to the capital as Manchester United went on to lift the trophy for a sixth time.
While much of the build-up was about Newcastle’s first appearance in a major final since 1999, it was Erik ten Hag’s resurgent United who claimed the club’s first silverware since winning the League Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017.
There was little between the sides in a scrappy first half but the English season’s first silverware was effectively decided in the space of six minutes towards half-time.
Firstly Brazilian Casemiro met a superb Luke Shaw free kick in the 33rd minute to head past Loris Karius and six minutes later Newcastle were left deflated when Marcus Rashford’s effort was deflected into his own goal by Botman.
Kicking towards their fans in the second half Newcastle roused themselves into action and pinned a leggy-looking United back at times but their wait for a trophy goes on.
After the final whistle, Ten Hag stood between winger Antony, who was wrapped in a Brazil flag, and defender Lisandro Martinez, wrapped in an Argentina flag, and started showing his dance-floor moves. This was not the first trophy the former Ajax trio have won together and it’s unlikely to be the last.
The triumph was 2,104 days since United’s last trophy, and 197 since they were 4-0 down to Brentford at half-time. Ten Hag has done a phenomenal job in so many ways — coaching, tactics, substitutions, discipline, PR, Ronaldo — and he watched on with pride as Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes lifted the League Cup at the Wembley.
The players lifted the trophy to huge cheers — but the loudest of all was reserved for Ten Hag.
It’s been a long time coming, but Manchester United are a serious football team again.
Written with inputs from Reuters
