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Manchester United have 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.
A goal by Casemiro and an own goal from Sven Botman, both in the first half, silenced the hordes of Newcastle fans who flocked to the capital on Sunday as Man United went on to lift the trophy for a sixth time with relative ease.
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 Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017 – their longest wait for silverware since 1983.
“It has been an amazing period, first trophy of the season but we want more it is not enough for this club, we want more and we need more because our standards demand more,” Bruno Fernandes, who was denied a third goal in stoppage time, said.
Manchester United players lift the League Cup trophy. (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
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 halftime.
Newcastle were stunned when Brazilian Casemiro met a superb Luke Shaw free kick in the 33rd minute to head past Loris Karius, the goal allowed to stand after a VAR check for offside.
Six minutes later, Newcastle were left totally deflated when the in-form Marcus Rashford was played in down the left and his shot deflected over a helpless Karius, the goal later being credited to the unfortunate 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.
Newcastle’s fans, who had created a sea of black and white with give-away plastic flags at the stadium’s west side during the closing minutes, drifted away before the presentation.
The Tyneside club have now lost each of their last nine matches at Wembley, a deflating run that began in the 1974 FA Cup final.
By contrast Man United’s fans were in full voice as Bruno Fernandes raised the trophy which they hope will be the first of many under Dutch coach ten Hag whose first season is going from strength to strength after some difficult early days.
United, who also beat Barcelona in midweek to reach the last-16 of the Europa League and are still in contention in the Premier League title race, were not at their best.
But they had far more of a goal threat and Wout Weghorst fluffed a chance when he shot tamely at Karius, Newcastle’s third-choice keeper playing his first competitive match since 2021.
Newcastle looked dangerous occasionally when Allan Saint-Maximin got on the ball but their lack of goals in recent months was evident as they huffed and puffed.
Joelinton headed one chance over and Dan Burn’s header whistled wide on the stroke of halftime but by that stage the writing was on the wall for a familiar near miss for Newcastle.
“No complaints with how we played, obviously the scoreline doesn’t say that, and that’s where football can be cruel,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said. “I’m sorry we couldn’t deliver for the fans today.”
Tottenham have cranked up the pressure on Graham Potter as Oliver Skipp’s first goal for the club and Harry Kane’s late strike secured a 2-0 win over Chelsea.
Potter’s position has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks after a torrid run of form, and that looks set to intensify after yet another miserable Premier League defeat on Sunday.
The Blues failed to take advantage of a reprieve shortly before halftime when Hakim Ziyech’s red card was overturned following a VAR review, with Skipp powering home immediately after the restart.
Kane added a second in the 82nd minute to move Spurs four points clear of Newcastle United in fourth place, although the Magpies have two games in hand.
Chelsea remain in 10th, a whopping 14 points adrift of the Champions League qualification places.
Chelsea’s plans took a hit in the 19th minute when Thiago Silva was forced off after sustaining an injury as he thwarted Kane inside the penalty area.
Spurs went agonisingly close to taking the lead shortly before the half-hour mark when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s effort from the edge of the area was deflected onto the base of the post.
Chelsea momentarily thought they had been reduced to 10 men in first-half stoppage time when Ziyech received a red card for striking Emerson Royal in the face, but his punishment was downgraded to a caution following a pitchside review by referee Stuart Attwell.
Spurs started the second half in electric fashion, grabbing the opener 19 seconds after the restart thanks to Skipp’s thunderous strike from 20 yards that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.
Kane then made sure of victory inside the closing 10 minutes with his 18th league goal of the season coming from a simple back-post finish from a corner.
Chelsea have now won just two of their past 15 Premier League matches, and scored just once in their past six games in all competitions.
© AAP
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