February 27 – Manchester United crushed Newcastle’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, causing heartbreak for the legions of Geordie fans who flocked to the capital in both hope and expectation.
In doing so, United ended their own six-year wait for a trophy as manager Erik ten Hag enhanced his burgeoning reputation by gaining silverware just 10 months after being hired – their first since winning a League Cup and Europa League double in 2017.
The victory underlined United’s remarkable transformation under Ten Hag, who is emerging as their best manager since Alex Ferguson, and maintained their four-pronged challenge with team still in contention for the Premier League, the Europa League and FA Cup.
For Newcastle, bought by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2021 and enjoying their finest Premier League campaign for many years, the wait for a first major domestic trophy since winning the FA Cup in 1955 goes on.
They were the better side in the early stages and mounted a fightback in the second half but could not find a breakthrough after conceding first-half goals through the impeccable Casemiro followed by an own goal by Sven Botman that silenced the hordes of black and white-clad fans.
Newcastle have now lost each of their last nine matches at Wembley. Instead the stage was left for United whose fans were in full voice at the end of the match after what they hope will be the first of many trophies under their Dutch manager.
Newcastle still have work to do to break back into England’s super-elite, no matter how good their impressive domestic support is.
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