Newcastle end trophy drought with Carabao Cup glory as clever plan sinks Liverpool

The banner in Wembley’s top tier could have formed part of the team talk. It was certainly a motivation. “Write your name in the history books,” it read. Newcastle United did. Dan Burn and Alexander Isak, the scorers who will forever be bracketed together in Tyneside folklore. The right-sided double act of Kieran Trippier and Jacob Murphy, who got an assist apiece. The unique Joelinton, the £40m misfit rebranded as midfield powerhouse. Bruno Guimaraes, the first Newcastle captain to lift a trophy at Wembley since 1955. Eddie Howe, the manager who accomplished something that eluded even beloved figures like Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson.

Because the great drought is over; their Wembley jinx with it, Liverpool’s league leaders eviscerated as Newcastle celebrated. Their previous trophy at Wembley came a few weeks after Winston Churchill had stood down as Prime Minister. Their previous major silverware came a few weeks before man first walked on the moon. The adjective “long-suffering” may have been designed for them. They have waited and waited. “For [the fans] it's like the World Cup,” said Guimaraes. “People have grown up and not seen us as champions.” They have now. “It's the best day of my life,” said the captain. He is an adopted Geordie. Many a native of Northumberland would agree. “We are breaking new ground,” said Howe.

The club who had only experienced disappointment, who abandoned all ambition of winning anything in the Mike Ashley era, belatedly have a reason to open the trophy cabinet, to give the 1955 FA Cup and the 1969 Fairs Cup some company. Forget Newcastle Brown Ale, they may be opening crates of Carabao on Tyneside now.

If clubs of Newcastle’s stature should not go 56 years without winning anything, 70 without domestic silverware, the reality is they had. Perhaps Newcastle wanted it more, needed it more than Liverpool. It looked that way on a seminal day. Liverpool will win a bigger prize in the next few weeks. Newcastle were denied a place in Europe this season by an upset at Wembley, Manchester United winning last season’s FA Cup. Now another shock has secured them a continental tour next year. And yet, after seven decades, that was merely a subplot.

There are strands to the story, of the Saudi PIF ownership and the likeable group of players intelligently assembled and cleverly improved by Howe, a manager whose first job came with a Bournemouth team in the League Two relegation zone. But a tall tale came true courtesy of a 6ft 7in figure. Burn has become the ungainly colossus, inelegant but indispensable.

The boy from Blyth is the fan who thought his chance to play for Newcastle had gone when a Saudi takeover gave them the tag of the world’s richest club. Now a slow-burner of a career has caught fire. Two days after receiving his maiden England call-up, he got a medal and a man-of the-match award, a Wembley win and a Wembley goal.

Burn’s towering header from Trippier’s corner angled past Caoimhin Kelleher. Burn grew up celebrating Alan Shearer’s goals. There was a neat reversal, the club’s record scorer bouncing in delirium when his fellow Geordie struck, again at the final whistle as Burn headed for his people, his huge wingspan apparently with arms spread wide, his face laced with disbelief. Like Jackie Milburn, he has scored for Newcastle to earn Wembley glory. “I've had worse weeks,” he said. “I don't want to go to sleep because I feel like I'm dreaming and it's all going to be a lie.”

For him, it was the stuff of make-believe. For Howe, a triumph of strategy. It was Newcastle’s sixth corner of the half; they had a ploy of looking for Burn, beyond the far post. Liverpool neglected to police a giant, with the rather smaller Alexis Mac Allister the nearest opponent. Arne Slot put that down to a zonal-marking system. Only Burn, he said, could have scored that header.

Newcastle’s expertise at corners almost yielded a second, Trippier and Burn were involved, Isak denied because it was offside. He soon struck anyway, his 100th Newcastle appearance brought a 14th goal in 16 games. The Swede didn’t come cheap but he has still proved a bargain. Isak caressed a lovely half-volley after Tino Livramento’s deep cross was headed back by Murphy. And, once again, it was a Newcastle fan involved. Like Burn, Murphy is a graduate of the lower leagues, a man who has played for Swindon, Southend and Scunthorpe, Colchester and Coventry.

And now for Newcastle, at Wembley. Which, for a long time, no one did. This was just their second final in a quarter of a century. They returned more streetwise and less awestruck than they were in 2023. This was a demonstration of intensity, an illustration they can beat the best. They didn’t need the injured Lewis Hall and Sven Botman or the suspended Anthony Gordon. They had nine shots before Liverpool’s first, 17 to their seven. They had a power Liverpool lacked, perhaps diminished by their efforts against Paris Saint-Germain.

And it was Liverpool’s worst performance of the campaign, Plymouth excepted. Theirs is still a terrific season but this has been a terrible week, a potential treble reduced to a lone trophy within five days. Newcastle were rampant. Liverpool ended up ragged. They were flattered by the scoreline, fine as Federico Chiesa’s finish was for his injury-time goal.

So Jurgen Klopp’s last trophy will not be Arne Slot’s first. The manager’s big decision may have been irrelevant. Kelleher made a terrific save to keep Isak’s volley out and stop Newcastle from scoring a third. The game was not defined by Slot’s choice of goalkeeper, even though Alisson watched on. The Irishman has had his taste of being the Carabao Cup final hero.

Now it was Newcastle’s turn. “When I first came here I said I wanted to put my name in history,” said Guimaraes. “We were well aware of the history,” echoed Howe. And now they have made it.

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