Newcastle beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, earning their first major trophy under the Saudi PIF ownership.
Dan Burn broke the deadlock with a well-placed header in the final moments of the first half, and Alexander Isak doubled his team’s lead in the 52nd minute. Substitute Federico Chiesa made a well timed run to give the Reds some bleak consolation in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time.
Teams
Despite the unbelievable form of Alisson Becker between the posts in recent matches, Liverpool boss Arne Slot decided to keep faith Caoimhin Kelleher, who played an important role in his team’s charge towards this final. In the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah started on the right defensive flank, Andy Robertson was on the left, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in the heart of defence. Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister played the two deeper midfield roles, while Dominik Szobozlai joined Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz in supporting Diogo Jota in attack.
Meanwhile, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe also had injury problems in defence to work around. With Sven Botman, Jamal Lascelles and Lewis Hall out of action, the quartet of Tino Livramento, Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier formed the back line in front of goalkeeper Nick Pope. Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes were in midfield, while wingers Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes, in the absence of the suspended Anthony Gordon, flanked Isak in attack.
Match recap
There was speculation ahead of the match that Newcastle might struggle with nerves as they aimed to end their 56-year trophy drought since winning the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but they showed no signs of hesitation in the early stages.
Harvey Barnes came close early on, steering a low cross just wide of the post, while Sandro Tonali narrowly missed the target with a curling effort from outside the box.
Caoimhin Kelleher was then called into action, reacting quickly to smother the ball at Bruno Guimarães’ feet following a corner, while both Alexander Isak and Kieran Trippier had efforts blocked in quick succession.
Newcastle may have started to wonder if their breakthrough would come, but they finally found the opener right on the stroke of half-time.
The goal came from Burn, who rose superbly to meet a Trippier corner, directing his header back across goal and into the far corner, igniting celebrations at the opposite end of Wembley.
Liverpool’s response was telling, as their first shot of the half – a wayward effort from Diogo Jota – summed up how the game had unfolded up to the interval.
The early moments of the second half hinted at a potential Liverpool response, with only a last-ditch sliding challenge from Joelinton preventing Luis Díaz from latching onto a Jota cutback.
However, the Reds had a narrow escape when Isak’s close-range finish from a corner was ruled out for a marginal offside, only to fall 2-0 behind moments later.
Fittingly, it was the Swede who doubled the lead, calmly sweeping the ball home after Murphy beat Robertson in the air and nodded a Tino Livramento cross into his path.
Liverpool soon registered their first shot on target as Curtis Jones attempted to cap off a well-worked move, but Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope reacted sharply, pushing the effort over the bar with a strong save.
In a last-ditch effort to turn things around as full time approached, Slot introduced the returning Cody Gakpo alongside the seldom-seen Federico Chiesa.
It was Chiesa who reignited hopes of a late comeback, latching onto a pass before finishing smartly, with a lengthy VAR review confirming he was onside.
However, Liverpool failed to create another clear chance in the dying moments, allowing Newcastle to see out the victory and etch their players’ names into history.
Magpies desire prevails
Newcastle certainly deserved to win this contest and thereby the trophy meant for its winner. Stats can, of course, be misleading when trying to discern which team outplayed the other, but it wasn’t so on this occasion.
Actually, one piece of stats tells it all. Newcastle won 51 duels, 13 more that their opponents, which makes it quite obvious that they wanted this trophy more. They showed grit and determination from the first to the last whistle, unlike the Premier League leaders who were simply second-best at everything on the night.
Liverpool’s lack of desire can, to an extent, be excused, having won it twice in the last three years, and the Champions League heartbreak they suffered earlier in the week at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, after 120 minutes and a penalty shootout, will have left its mark on their spirits.
Liverpool left with lessons to learn
Anyone suggesting that Liverpool won’t have done well by securing only the Premier League title this season might do well to revisit the pre-season predictions from August, when many pundits had them scrambling through the season with Jurgen Klopp gone.
Still, if Slot aims to build a side shooting for the stars in the near future, the past week has provided valuable insight.
Against PSG, Liverpool’s attack appeared a level below the true elite of the Champions League, while here they were outmuscled by a physically superior side—an issue that has surfaced at times this season.
If Slot is to make the most of these consecutive setbacks, he must take the lessons learned and apply them to the summer ahead. With several key players walking slowly towards the exit door at this point, it will surely be interesting to see what Liverpool’s squad looks like at the start of 2025/26.
What about Isak?
Alexander Isak proved yet again that he can be a handful even for the best defenders out there. His future has consequently been a subject of much speculation over the last few months, with many wondering if he’d be prepared to wait for this Newcastle project to fully bloom, or seek quicker glory elsewhere. Should he opt for the latter option, he reportedly won’t be short on potential destinations – Liverpool included.
However, Newcastle have now shown that trophies can be won in the black-and-white shirt too. It doesn’t carry the same weight as the Premier League or the Champions League, but the Carabao Cup is not a bad first step towards greater success. Isak has three years left on his contract and that puts the club in a strong position to reject all advances for his services, but the key will obviously be to convince the player that his full potential can be achieved at St. James’ Park.
