LIVERPOOL 1, NEWCASTLE 2
What a week it has been for former Wigan Athletic player Dan Burn.
Days after winning his first England call-up at the ripe old age of 32, Burn scored the opening goal in their Carabao Cup final win against holders Liverpool.
Centre back Burn, who had two separate spells with Latics, was also named player of the match as Newcastle ended their lengthy wait for silverware.
It was back in 1969 that they won the Inter City Fairs Cup and even further back to 1955 for their last domestic honour, the FA Cup.
The years of hurt are finally over after Eddie Howe’s side completely outplayed Liverpool who have had a terrible week.
Five days after being knocked out of the Champions League by Paris St Germain, they failed to lift the League Cup for an 11th time.
And there can be no complaints after they were completely outplayed by Newcastle, who had not beaten Liverpool in 17 previous meetings stretching back to 2015, on a day which will go down in Geordie folklore.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said: “I am very, very emotional and been all day which is unlike me.
“We knew what was at stake today for all of our fans, we wanted to do them proud and win the trophy.
“I am so, so pleased with the result and the performance – we deserved to win today.
“It was tough when Liverpool scored. I was thinking about extra time. We always make it difficult for ourselves it was never going to be 2-0.
“We were well aware of the history, and we wanted to do the club proud. We wanted to score, we wanted to perform and we wanted to win.
“We are breaking new ground, I thought we were magnificent today.
“We worked consistently for two weeks on set plays just for this game and if you had seen us in practice you would have said we had no chance.
“We couldn’t believe Dan Burn scored – he didn’t train like that. He was a colossus for us.”
Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes summed up the emotion, declaring: “It’s all for these fans. They deserve everything. When I first came here I said I wanted to put my name in history.
“We can now say we are the champions again. This is one of the best days of my life.
“I don’t have any words. It’s the best day of my life. For them [the fans] it’s like the World Cup. People have grown up and not seen us as champions. My first year as captain of this club and it’s one of the best days. This is unbelievable.
“This is my second home. We are making history. Some day when I leave this club, I want the fans to sing my name the way they do to Shearer. He texedt me before the game. I’m so emotional today.”
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot admitted Newcastle deserved to win.
He said: “It was a disappoint result and disappointing performance and completely different to after the loss to PSG.
“We have lost two in a row for the first time but that happens in the latter stages of tournaments when you are playing against the best teams.
“It was a tough week but we also extended our lead in the Premier League from 10 to 12 points so it is not all negative.”
Caoimhin Kelleher started in goal for Liverpoolin one of two changes. The other saw Jarrell Quansah start at right-back in place of the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It was an unchanged team for Newcastle who were again without the suspended Anthony Gordon.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe atmosphere inside Wembley was electric, especially the Newcastle fans who were in a joyous mood.
Sadly events on the field failed to match the mood off it in what was a disjointed and disappointing opening.
It took until the 24th minute before there was a clear-cut chance when Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali curt inside before bending a shot wide.
Burn then headed straight at Kelleher from Kieran Trippier’s corner as Newcastle began to slightly edge proceedings.
Then bang on 45 minutes, Newcastle took the lead with a terrific headed goal from Burn who was 14 yards out when he met Trippier’s corner to nod it back across the face of goal.
What a time for North East lad Burn to hit his first goal of the season to send their fans wild with delight.
There was a let off for Liverpool early in the second half when Isak had a goal disallowed for offside.
Liverpool failed to deal with a corner. Burn’s shot was saved by Kelleher with the Swede knocking in the rebound but from an offside position.
It was only a temporary reprieve as Newcastle doubled their lead within two minutes.
Tino Livramento crossed from the left and Jacob Murphy headed the ball down for Isak to fire home a low shot for his 23rd goal of the season.
Slot made two changes and one almost paid off immediately as Curtis Jones’ shot was brilliantly tipped over by keeper Nick Pope.
It might have got worse for Liverpool as Newcastle carved open their porous defence again and so nearly made kit 3-0.
Harvey Barnes squared a pass to Isak who was denied by a fine reflex save from Kelleher as the Toon Army were in full control of the game.
Newcastle continued to create chances as Murphy and Joelinton both fired narrowly wide.
Liverpool were thrown a lifeline when they halve the deficit in the fourth of eight added minute.
Substitute Federico Chiesa was put through and slotted home a low shot only to be flagged for offside.
But a VAR check showed the Italian was clearly onside and suddenly there was a momentum swing.
The lengthy check meant that more than 11 minutes of added time were played but Liverpool never looked like forcing extra time as they managed the dying stages well.
And at the final whistle were incredible scenes as their lengthy wait for silverware finally came to an end.