Newcastle United end 70-year trophy drought with Carabao Cup final win over Liverpool
Newcastle United's Alexander Isak celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game. Pic: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire.
Dan Burn has definitely had worse weeks, as have Newcastle United.
On the back of a first England call-up, a Carabao Cup final goal to help end a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy at the club he has supported all his life represents a decent few days work for the big defender, who has certainly bought his last pint on the city's famed Bigg Market.
Alexander Isak, scorer of the second goal for Eddie Howe's side to put the seal on a richly deserved victory in a final that will go down in Geordie folklore, can similarly leave his wallet at home whenever he ventures out in the North-East's party capital in future.
Two years ago it was the Magpies, or more accurately rabbits in the headlights, who didn't turn up in a crushingly anonymous display as they tamely accepted their runners-up role against Manchester United.
This time, it was Liverpool, singularly failing to live up to their billing as strong pre-match favourites, who were at Wembley in name only as the national stadium turned into a black and white wonderland.
Whether it was the after effects of Tuesday's physically and emotionally-draining Champions League exit to Paris St Germain, or perhaps complacency against a club they hadn't lost to for 17 games, Arne Slot's men were a pale imitation of the side that has surged to the brink of the Premier League title this season.
Rarely has Mo Salah had such an ineffective afternoon, but the Anfield talisman wasn't alone in having a game to forget for those clad in red as the club's 15th league cup final quickly descended into one of their worst.
Only belatedly did they pose an attacking threat, in the wake of throwing on some much needed replacements to freshen up a lacklustre display when one of those replacements Curtis Jones had a rasping drive acrobatically saved by Nick Pope.
It had taken Liverpool an hour to muster a threat of note, and they had to wait until deep into stoppage time for their next, when substitute Federico Chiesa raced through to slide a left-foot shot past Pope to provide belated hope.
It proved to be too little, too late to prevent a Newcastle victory, the magnitude of which it is hard to under-state, one which can prove the perfect springboard to further additions to the St James' trophy cabinet in the coming years.
They had lost their nine previous matches here, having failed to even score a goal in almost 25 years. That wretched run was put right in emphatic style on the stroke of half-time as Burn rose a dozen yards out to head Kieran Trippier's corner into the far corner past Caoimhin Kelleher.
Why Alexis MacAllister, one of the smallest players on the pitch, was trying and failing to mark Blyth's very own man mountain, only Liverpool's set-piece coaching staff will know.
It looked like a recipe for disaster, and so it proved. Astonishingly, they still hadn't learned their lesson early in the second-half when only a marginal offside against Bruno Guimaraes saw Isak's close-range follow-up ruled out as chaos ensued at another Trippier corner.
It was a brief stay of execution, as Newcastle doubled their advantage through the prolific Isak. Tino Livramento's inviting centre from the left was deftly headed down by Jacob Murphy and there was Isak to sweep home his 27th goal of the season right-footed from 12 yards to give the Geordies valuable breathing space. Some 38 minutes remained, but the 65th League Cup final was as good as over.
The Sweden international could easily have had a hat-trick and it took a fine close-range save from the increasingly-over-employed Kelleher to deny the in-from striker from Harvey Barnes' volleyed cross as Liverpool inevitably left gaps at the back in a forlorn attempt to find a way back into what turned into a very one-sided contest.
Newcastle saw out the final few minutes after Chiesa's effort to ensure Howe became the first English manager to lead a team to League Cup final success since Steve McClaren at Middlesbrough 21 years ago.Â
His opposite number Slot, after coming up woefully short in what was meant to be a procession to his first piece of Anfield silverware, was left to reflect on the most inopportune of days to suffer a bad, bad day at the office.
Kelleher 6; Quansah 4, Konate 4 (Jones 57, 6), van Dijk 4, Robertson 5; Gravenberch 4 (Chiesa 74, 7), MacAllister 4 (Gakpo 67, 4); Salah 3, Szoboszlai 4, Diaz 3 (Elliott 74, 4); Jota 4 (Nunez 57, 3).
Pope 7; Trippier 8, Schar 8, Burn 9, Livramento 9; Guimaraes 8, Tonali 8, Joelinton 9; Murphy 7 (Krafth 90, 6) Isak 9 (Wilson 81, 6), Barnes 7 (Willock 81, 6).
John Brooks
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