Carabao Cup final news: Newcastle United paint Wembley black and white
Newcastle United won the Carabao Cup after beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday, March 16 as Dan Burn and Alexander Isak became instant new heroes forever.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Harrison Pearce analyses how Newcastle got the win over the line.
The end of a seven-decade-long drought
Every club in the Premier League and across the world have trophy aspirations.
Sunday night though, it was the Magpies who came out on top by winning the Carabao Cup in 2025, ending their 70-year trophy drought.
It has been five years since the new Saudi owners took over the midtable Premier League club and their winning ambitions have finally come to fruition.
The underdog arch
Ahead of the game, Arne Slot’s side were the favourites to win the Carabao Cup, even though PSG recently knocked them out of the UEFA Champions League.
Another factor that threw the favour Liverpool’s way was Newcastle’s recent struggles, including suspensions and injuries.
One element that makes this victory more special is the fact that they were missing key players in Antony Gordon, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall.
Despite all this, from start to finish, Newcastle were the better team.
Burn baby burn
Newcastle’s set pieces were the difference maker in the first half, and grabbing the opening goal was essential to gaining the momentum.
Dan Burn was the one to find the net first.
From starting at non-league club Darlington to winning the Carabao Cup against top-of-the-Premier League Liverpool, the rise of his career has been incredible.
Many fans will have Burn’s goal stuck in their brain for years to come as he becomes a cult hero.
Lacksture Liverpool stars
Liverpool looked like they wouldn’t score all game.
After 90 minutes of football, the Reds had only seven shots, of which only two were on target. This was a stark contrast to Newcastle’s 17-6.
In big games, any team needs their star players to show up and show out. The above statistics suggest one thing - only one side had its stars shining bright.
For Liverpool, Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah’s determination and leadership were nowhere to be found.
Salah is the type of player known for not being too involved in a game, and then grabbing a goal out of nowhere. Against Newcastle however, he was disappointing.
Considering the Egyptian has 54 goal contributions and is one of the best players in the world this season, he didn’t show up when it mattered, which is something you wouldn’t expect from a player of his calibre.
One surprising thing was Liverpool’s abysmal defending. This is because in recent years you would have had Van Dijk beat any striker in a one-on-one battle.
But maybe the loss to PSG had the defender second-guessing himself at Wembley.
Even though Kelleher has started most of the Carabao Cup games and has impressed extremely well, many fans might be left wondering what the score might have been if Alisson Becker was in the Liverpool net.
A late surge silenced by Newcastle’s resilience
There was a blockbuster five minutes left of the game after Federico Chiesa scored for Liverpool.
There was a controversial VAR decision with a Salah 99th-minute goal written all over it.
However, the Geordie team did fantastic in keeping the ball and holding onto the victory.
Everything the Newcastle players touched turned to gold because they would allow Liverpool to have the ball but were aggressive in the press, which created a lot of their attacking opportunities.
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Isak heating up
Winning the cup secures Eddie Howe’s men a spot in European competition, which could convince key players like Alexander Isak to stay another season.
However, with 23 goal contributions this season, Isak has established himself as one of the Premier League’s top strikers - making him a hot target in the summer transfer window.
Rumours already link the Swedish forward with moves to Arsenal and Liverpool, leaving his future at Newcastle uncertain.
Tenth time's the charm
The Magpies have gone to Wembley nine times and have finally won a trophy in their tenth attempt.
Newcastle were worthy winners of this trophy, and this will put them in good shape for the rest of the season.
They will be aiming for a Champions League spot to guarantee keeping hold of their star players and help to reinvest into the squad.
At the start of the season, many fans would have taken beating a title-challenging Arsenal in a semi-final over two legs, but winning the whole competition has just exceeded everyone's expectations.
Will this push the other underdogs in the remaining competitions to battle against the traditional top-six sides and earn themselves a well-waited trophy of their own?
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