Liverpool vs Newcastle Review
Newcastle defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the Carabao Cup final, marking their first victory over the Reds since December 2015 and securing their first major domestic trophy since 1955. Before the match, Eddie Howe mentioned that adjustments had been made based on lessons learned from their previous final two years ago, and it appeared to pay off as his team started strong. However, Harvey Barnes was unable to convert a chance from Jacob Murphy’s cross, and both Murphy and Sandro Tonali failed to challenge goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher with their shots. Meanwhile, Liverpool, coming off a tiring loss to Paris Saint-Germain, struggled to create opportunities despite having a good amount of possession.
Newcastle remained the primary attackers, but Kelleher quickly intervened to stop Bruno Guimarães after Dan Burn had initially headed the ball from a corner. Andrew Robertson made two crucial blocks in quick succession, preventing a header from Alexander Isak and a shot from Kieran Trippier. Shortly after, Kelleher caught Guimarães’ flicked header following Burn’s first touch from the subsequent corner. Just before halftime, Burn again rose to meet a corner, this time scoring with a brilliant header that found the far post, igniting jubilant celebrations among the Newcastle fans at Wembley Stadium.
After the break, another corner created confusion for Liverpool, but Isak’s goal was disallowed for Guimarães being offside. Undeterred, Isak quickly found the net as Tino Livramento’s cross was headed down by Murphy, allowing Isak to finish with precision. In response, Arne Slot made two substitutions, one of which was Curtis Jones, who fired a powerful shot that Nick Pope deflected out moments later. Kelleher then stopped Isak’s improvised attempt, Murphy shot just wide, and Tonali’s effort was saved as the relentless Magpies continued to press, even with Slot making additional attacking changes.
The announcement of eight minutes of added time had Newcastle fans feeling anxious, and their worries intensified when Harvey Elliott assisted Federico Chiesa, who scored. However, despite the clock surpassing 100 minutes, the black and white team managed to hold on, making history by ending Newcastle’s 70-year drought for a major domestic trophy and securing the club’s first EFL Cup. On the other hand, Liverpool faced their second consecutive loss of the season, which came at a particularly unfortunate time, preventing them from increasing their tally of 10 victories in this tournament.
