Dan Burn’s halftime opener and Alexander Isak’s 52nd-minute winner helped Newcastle end their 70-year wait for a domestic trophy by beating holders Liverpool 2-1 in the EFL Cup Final. It was also their first major silverware since the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup(now the Europa League) in 1969.
Burn, who received a first senior call-up to the England squad from Thomas Tuchel, celebrated his seventh goal for Newcastle, latched on to a Kieran Trippier corner to give the Magpies the lead at half-time.
Isak doubled Newcastle’s lead shortly after half-time.
Federico Chiesa got one back for the Reds in the 94th minute.
But the Magpies stood firm to give themselves a famous win at Wembley.
It was Eddie Howe’s side’s second time lucky. They reached the Final of this competition in 2023 but lost 2-0 to Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United.
An emotional Howe praised his team’s performance and dedication to win the Final.
“We were well aware of history. We wanted to do the club proud. We wanted to score. We wanted to perform, we wanted to win. We are breaking new ground. I thought we were magnificent.”
Howe: BBC Sport
It was as if Burn’s goal surprised the Newcastle dugout.
“We couldn’t believe Dan Burn scored. He hasn’t been training like that.”
Howe
Meanwhile, Arne Slot was disappointed with his side’s performance in the Final.
Disappointing result, disappointing performance. So, completely different than I felt after the Paris Saint-Germain game. Losing twice in a row is something I think we do for the first time. But that probably also comes with going into the latter stages of a tournament, so facing Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle in a final are two very good teams, both in their own styles. But very difficult teams to face, because we already knew from the game at St. James’ Park how difficult it is to beat them. It was a tough week but it was also a week where we extended our lead [in the Premier League] to 12 points from it being 10, so it wasn’t all negative. But the last two were definitely not the way we wanted it to be.
Slot: Liverpool FC
When asked if fatigue from the Champions League Last 16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain was a factor in Liverpool’s average performance, the Reds Boss was swift to deny it.
Mentally, it’s always difficult to judge. Were we on Tuesday mentally or physically tired? No. But this game had nothing to do with running, this game had only to do with playing duels and there was no intensity in terms of running in this game at all. So you cannot even judge it if we were tired yes or no, physically, because we could not press them. You can judge a team if they are tired and they press. But there was nothing to press because they played over our press.
Slot
The EFL Cup win surely has to be the launchpad for the Magpies to finish the season strongly.
By winning this trophy, they will feature in next season’s Europa Conference League, however, they are also two points off the top four, so should that be the next priority?
But whatever happens between now and the end of the season, this surely has to be one of the best days in the club’s history.
For more information on Newcastle United and their EFL Cup history, visit World In Sport.
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2025-03-17 09:55:30
