'We desperately wanted to perform and to win and I thought we deserved the victory'
CHAMPIONS: Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier lift the Carabao Cup trophy with team-mates following victory in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London.
AS he attempted to explain a Liverpool no-show that was as spectacular as it was unexpected, Arne Slot resembled a broken man. As shattered as his players had looked during a chastening final where the scoreline hid the magnitude of the hammering inflicted on them.
'They battered us' Jamie Carragher reflected through gritted teeth in a three-word encapsulation of an utterly dominant display to emphatically end Newcastle's 70-year wait for domestic silverware.
Only those with a heart of stone or who support Sunderland will begrudge the Magpies their long-awaited success. Alan Shearer, Geordie royalty watching with soaring pride from the stands, famously celebrated winning a league title with Blackburn by creosoting his fence. Eddie Howe promised to let his hair down in similarly under-stated fashion after becoming the first English manager to lead a club to the League Cup for 21 years.
"I'm going to put the coaching books away for a couple of days, which is most unlike me," the Newcastle manager insisted. "There will be some serious celebrations for sure, but you're asking the wrong man if you're trying to find out where we're going to end up!
"I've been emotional all day which is unlike me but we knew what was on the line today after all the years of hurt. We desperately wanted to perform and to win and I thought we deserved the victory."
Dan Burn has had worse weeks. On the back of a first England call-up, a cup final goal to help clinch a trophy for 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 Howe's side to put the seal on a richly deserved victory in a final that will go down in Tyneside 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 who didn't turn up in an 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 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 the previous 17 games, 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 as the club's 15th league cup final quickly descended into one of their worst.
Only belatedly did they pose an attacking threat, taking an hour to force a save from Nick Pope, before substitute Federico Chiesa's well-taken stoppage-time consolation gave them brief hope their performance didn't really deserve.
It failed to deny Newcastle a fully deserved victory, the magnitude of which it is hard to under-state. 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 men on the pitch, was assigned 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. Tino Livramento's inviting centre from the left was headed down by Jacob Murphy and there was Isak to sweep home right-footed from 12 yards. Almost 40 minutes remained, but the 65th League Cup final was as good as over.
The Sweden international could have had a hat-trick and it took a fine close-range save from Kelleher as Liverpool inevitably left gaps at the back in a forlorn attempt to find a way back into a one-sided contest to ensure Howe can keep away from the coaching books for the next few days as Slot, in stark contrast, launched the search for answers.
"The game went the way they wanted and that's credit to them," the Dutchman admitted in a magnanimous post-match analysis. He refused to use the PSG exit as an excuse, and added: "It wasn't about energy. I wouldn't say we weren't brave enough but Newcastle were stronger and won most of the main duels. We had to be better with the ball to create more and we have to say they deserved to win."
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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