A great migration from the north east of England had colonised the centre of London on Saturday night.
The Geordie invasion had overwhelmed Trafalgar Square at the heart of the capital and then on Sunday morning, it had moved north and west to the outskirts of the city.
In this football era of creeping corporatism, the hunger and the fervour of Newcastle’s support felt like a throwback to a different age.
Inside the stadium, the hordes raised their black and white flags in giant stripes at their end of Wembley. After so many years in the wilderness, they had convinced themselves this was their moment to storm the barricades of the old order but this was an uprising that reached the gates of the palace and then could go no further.
That was the point it came up against the quiet revolution that is engulfing Manchester United under Erik ten Hag.
Manchester United claimed their first trophy since 2017 with victory over Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley
Marcus Rashford’s deflected strike doubled Manchester United’s lead in the 39th minute after Casemiro’s opener on Sunday
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro put Manchester United ahead in the 33rd minute, setting the tone for the rest of the contest
This was Manchester United’s first trophy for six years and above all, it was Ten Hag’s triumph. He has only been at Old Trafford since the summer but he has changed the character of the club.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he has changed it back.
This victory was a symbol of that change.
This was a victory for the attitudes he has altered and the values he has instilled and for the banishing of complacency and for the intolerance of the idea that image is more important than substance.
This was a victory for the team over the individual. This was a victory for the idea that the manager still sets the tone. This was a victory for the notion that authority is vested in the manager, not in preening superstar players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Paul Pogba, who seek to wrest it from them.
The 2-0 win meant Ten Hag became the eighth Manchester United manager to win a major trophy following Ernest Mangall, Sir Matt Busby, Tommy Docherty, Ron Atkinson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
This was the clearest sign yet that his club is on the way back and that it is responding more and more to his leadership.
Manchester United were Newcastle’s conquerors when they played each other in the FA Cup Final in 1999, just before Ferguson’s side won the Treble in Barcelona. Newcastle have not played in a domestic final since but once again they had no answer to the men in red.
First half goals from Casemiro and a shot from Marcus Rashford that was deflected into his own net by Sven Botman were enough to get Ten Hag’s side over the line.
So Newcastle’s wait for a first domestic trophy since 1955 goes on. This was the fifth successive final they have lost since 1969. They will be back soon enough and they will try to resuscitate their faltering attempts to gatecrash the top four in the Premier League. They are anticipating new honours now they are owned by the fabulously rich and brutally repressive state of Saudi Arabia but there are some things even the Saudis cannot buy.
Ten Hag’s side did not get out of second gear. It didn’t need to. It was not a classic final by any means.
In fact, it was something of an anti-climax.
But even if the Carabao Cup is the least of the major trophies on offer in the English domestic game, history tells us that winning it often acts as a catalyst for greater glories.
Manchester United are still in the Europa League, they are at home to West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup this week and they are lingering stubbornly on the edge of the Premier League title race, ready to pounce if Manchester City or Arsenal slip up.
This might have been Ten Hag’s first trophy for the club but it will be a surprise if it is his last.
Luke Shaw’s pinpoint free kick from the left-hand side was firmly headed home by Casemiro midway through the the first-half
Manchester United and Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez heads away under pressure from Newcastle’s Callum Wilson
Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier launches into a challenge on Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford
Manchester United’s £83million summer signing Antony (L) takes on Newcastle defender Dan Burn (R) at Wembley on Sunday
Ten Hag’s men have only lost once since November 6 and this final was their tenth unbeaten match on the run. Newcastle, who have begun to splutter and fade, came up against them at just the wrong time.
Much of the build-up had centred on the suspension of Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope. With Martin Dubravka cup-tied and Karl Darlow out on loan, former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius started for Eddie Howe’s side. His selection was met both with apprehension and hope for redemption.
Karius, 29, joined Newcastle in September but had not played a minute for the club before this match.
His career has been defined, at least from an English perspective, by high-profile errors he made in the 2018 Champions League Final in Kiev when he was Liverpool’s goalkeeper, errors that helped to hand the trophy to Real Madrid.
He had last played a competitive game of football in February 2021 for Union Berlin against Hoffenheim in Germany’s Bundesliga.
He and Botman had the hint of a misunderstanding in the opening seconds, which may not have done Karius’s confidence much good but the first real chance of the game did not come for half an hour.
It was carved out of a piece of individual brilliance from Saint-Maximin, who retrieved a cross and then squared up Dalot inside the area.
Saint-Maximin dragged the ball one way and then the other and danced past Dalot as if he was not there.
He advanced to the edge of the six-yard box and lashed his shot goalwards but David de Gea stuck out his left arm and the ball cannoned off it and away to safety.
A minute later, Manchester United were ahead. Rashford won a free kick on the United left and it was curled in by Luke Shaw. Casemiro ran on to it and climbed between Sven Botman and Fabian Schar. He glanced his header across Karius and the ball nestled in the far corner of the net.
Hope flickered briefly for Newcastle fans that Casemiro had strayed offside but VAR dashed that hope.
United went further ahead six minutes before half time. It was an innocuous build-up but when Wout Weghorst slipped a short pass behind the Newcastle defence, Rashford was on it in a flash.
Botman closed him down but when Rashford shot with his left foot, the ball deflected off Botman’s leg and looped into the air. Karius was wrong-footed. He flapped his hand at it but he could only divert it into the roof of the net.
Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst clashes with Dutch compatriot Sven Botman during the fiery encounter in London
Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximin was denied by Manchester United’s in-form goalkeeper David de Gea in the first-half
Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and Newcastle’s Fabian Schar required treatment following a clash of heads
Manchester United co-chairman Avram Glazer sat with Sir Alex Ferguson and former chief executive David Gill at Wembley
Newcastle huffed and puffed in the second half but Casemiro was supreme in United’s midfield.
He was the man of the match by a distance, a player who has made a significant difference to his side since he arrived from Real Madrid.
All that was left was for Karius to make a brilliant late save from Bruno Fernandes.
When Ten Hag took his turn to lift the trophy, his club’s fans saved their biggest cheer of the evening for him.
MATCH FACTS
Man Utd: de Gea, Dalot (Wan-Bissaka 46),Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Fred (Sabitzer 70), Casemiro, Antony (Sancho 83),Bruno Fernandes, Rashford (Maguire 88), Weghorst (McTominay 70).
Subs Not Used: Lindelof, Malacia, Heaton, Garnacho.
Booked: Dalot, Fred, de Gea, Casemiro, Martinez.
Goals: Casemiro 33,Botman 39 og.
Newcastle: Karius, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn, Longstaff (Isak 46),Bruno Guimaraes (Willock 79),Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson, Saint-Maximin (Murphy 78).
Subs Not Used: Lascelles, Ritchie, Targett, Manquillo, Gillespie, Anderson.
Booked: Joelinton, Schar.
Att: 87,306
Ref: David Coote (Nottinghamshire).
source: dailymail.co.uk
