Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-0 at Wembley Stadium on Sunday night to claim the Carabao Cup title, their first silver medal in 6 years.
The Red Devils were far from their prime, but two first-half goals, one from Casemiro and the other from a deflected effort from Rashford, gave manager Eric ten Hag his first trophy after just nine months in charge of the club. .
Newcastle started brightly
Newcastle started brightly, with Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron causing problems for United’s full-backs, but Eddie Howe’s side failed to thread the ball through to open up clear spaces in the final third.
Saint-Maximin tested David De Gea after Sean Longstaff’s brilliant cross, but the French winger could only punch his shot straight into the United goalkeeper.
Quick double puts united in control
A minute later, Casemiro opened the scoring with a fine header after a luscious Luke Shaw free-kick from the left flank.
United had to wait for the goal to be given as the VAR intervened to rule out a possible offside in the preparation of the goal.
If that went completely against the grain of the game, it was 2-0 just six minutes later when Marcus Rashford’s effort deflected from Botman to past Loris Karius in the Magpies’ goal.
The Newcastle goalkeeper made a brilliant save in stoppage time just before the break from Antony’s 25-yard piledriver.
Newcastle were by far the better of the two sides, having the majority of possession in the second half, nearly 80%, until the 65-minute mark.
However, the Urracas never really threatened De Gea, thanks to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martínez, who were again excellent in central defence.
Casemiro had a brilliant game in the central defensive midfield position, showing why he is one of the best in the position.
Manchester United could have made it 3-0 on 74 minutes, but Karius stopped Rashford with a great save by diving low to his right.
The German also kept Bruno Fernandes out with another great save, the best of the match when he denied the Portuguese midfielder just before the final whistle.
The result meant Newcastle’s dismal run at Wembley continues as they have now lost all nine of their matches at the iconic stadium.
However, they will be looking to bounce back quickly in the Premier League as they chase a Champions League place, knowing they are four points behind Tottenham in fourth with two games in hand.
Photo Credit: IMAGO/Paul Marriott
