Beware, London, the Geordies aren’t leaving anytime soon. The Toon Army will be celebrating well into the international break after Newcastle ended their 56-year wait for a major trophy on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from local hero Dan Burn and talisman striker Alexander Isak either side of half-time thrust the superior Magpies into a deserved 2-0 lead. Eddie Howe’s side were well on course for a comfortable triumph despite missing a number of good chances to put the final to bed.
Runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool entered the contest as favourites, but they failed to lay a glove on Newcastle until Curtis Jones had an effort well-saved by Nick Pope just before the hour mark. Their eventual consolation, which arrived via Federico Chiesa in stoppage time, could’ve sparked a remarkable Magpie collapse, but Howe’s team saw out the remaining minutes expertly to etch their names into history.
Boy, did Arne Slot tinker in the second half. The Liverpool manager used all five substitutions by the 74th minute, with the Reds’ shape evolving drastically as the contest progressed towards its conclusion.
However, outside of Curtis Jones’ introduction and his utilisation deeper in midfield which offered Liverpool greater press-resistance in the face of Newcastle’s intensity, there seemed to be less thought and more hope surrounding Slot’s changes.
The Dutch coach has garnered plenty of plaudits for his willingness to adapt in-game, and more often than not, his subtle alterations have proven to be astute. Slot’s work on Sunday wasn’t his finest, and he fatally failed to make a key adjustment from set-pieces.
Dan Burn is 6’7. Alexis Mac Allister is 5’9. Sure, the Argentine’s job isn’t to necessarily duel the Newcastle defender, but surely a switch involving either Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate as a man-marker would’ve been more useful given the joy Newcastle’s primary set-piece threat was having in the first half. Burn made first contact with almost every delivery as the wily Magpies wisely avoided Liverpool’s centre-backs by targeting the back post.
They took full advantage of a mismatch, with Burn capping off a memorable week by netting the opener with an emphatic header on the stroke of half-time. The interval offered Slot the optimal time to adjust, but there was no major change at set-pieces. Just before Isak doubled Newcastle’s lead, the Swede had a goal ruled out after Joelinton escaped Liverpool’s blockers at the back post.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle had a chance to end their lengthy drought two years ago when they faced Manchester United in the final of the same competition. However, conceding two goals towards the end of the first half turned a grand day out into just another heartbreak on the big stage.
Howe spoke about striking the optimal emotional balance ahead of Sunday’s final. The occasion seemed to get to the Magpies in 2023 against a beatable Red Devils, but they struck the perfect chord here.
They took full advantage of a Liverpool team seemingly still reeling from their penalty shootout defeat at the hands of PSG on Tuesday night. The Reds failed to come to the fore while Howe’s side functioned with unrelenting vigour. There were spurts of emotion, particularly from the two Brazilians in the middle of the park, but Newcastle channelled the fervency exuded by the Toon Army and refused to wilt. They hit the sweet spot.
Newcastle’s victory means Howe and this group of players will be immortalised on Tyneside. Howe has become the first English manager to win the League Cup since Steve McLaren with Middlesbrough 21 years ago, and the first Newcastle boss to deliver major silverware in generations.
His stoic aura works in contradiction with the city which supports its football club so vehemently, but together, Howe and Newcastle have proven to be the perfect match.
He’s the very best England have got on the sidelines.
The clock ticked into minute 99 in the aftermath of Liverpool’s late goal. Tension suffocated Wembley. Newcastle couldn’t lose from here, could they? Not after all that.
Liverpool’s next surge upfield was brought to a halt by a poor Dominik Szoboszlai header which was coolly chested down by Bruno Guimaraes and seized upon by Sandro Tonali. The Brazilian’s temperament and the Italian’s dogged running, which allowed Newcastle to kill more clock at a crucial juncture, epitomised a truly outstanding display by their midfield triumvirate.
These were surely the Premier League’s two best engine rooms going head-to-head, yet Sunday’s duel was a comprehensive victory for the three in black and white. Guimaraes supplied savvy, Tonali was relentless, and Joelinton recorded a hat-trick of celebrations for his defensive work.
This wasn’t about their ability to combine beyond their opponents in the middle of the park, but their capacity to completely disrupt Liverpool’s flow.
Liverpool’s brightest moment of a flat first half arrived when Salah was given the chance to line Tino Livramento up one-on-one. Salah’s cross was knocked down by Luis Diaz, and their only shot of the opening period was scuffed wide by Diogo Jota.
That sequence surely put an exclamation mark on Liverpool’s plan for getting back into the game: give the ball to Salah! However, this time around, there was no red resurgence inspired by the inevitable Egyptian.
His touch count was barely out of single digits by the time Newcastle netted their second, and there was only one more occasion when the winger lined up Livramento, winning a corner but nothing more. Howe ensured Salah wasn’t going to beat his team, challenging the winger’s supporting cast to step up.
They didn’t.
In truth, Liverpool were poor from back to front, and their issues on Sunday weren’t solely down to sub-par displays in attack. However, as was the case in midweek, the Reds suffered mightily when their star man was limited.
