Manchester United win the Carabao Cup final, ending six years without a trohpy

Manchester United won the Carabao Cup final 2-0 against Newcastle United, ending a six year trophy drought and giving Erik ten Hag a piece of silverware at the first time of asking.

It has been a tough few years for the 13 times Premier League champions, who have not won the league in nearly 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

In 2017 they won the League Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho and have been starved of any major success since then.

Ten Hag has brought back belief to Old Trafford this season, and they have remained in all four competitions heading into March.

Despite a spirited performance from Eddie Howe's side, they could not break down the victors, who took the trophy thanks to a goal from Luke Shaw and an own goal from Sven Botman.

🗣 "WE'RE MAN UTD AND WE'RE NEVER GONNA STOP!" ❤️#MUFC || #CarabaoCup

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 26, 2023

Ahead of the game much of the talk was about how long it had been since either side had won a major trophy, Newcastle's FA Cup in 1955 their last major silverware, dwarfing their rivals own dry spell.

The last time the team from the north east competed in a cup final had been against Sunday's opponents in 1999, when Sir Alex Ferguson's side completed the second part of the Treble, by winning the FA Cup.

Newcastle had only previously visited the new Wembley for Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur, but they were not overawed by the occasion.

Eddie Howe's men were well in the game and put pressure on Erik ten Hag's team, who looked happy to play on the back foot and attempt to hit their opponents on the break.

Allan Saint-Maximin was having some good moments down the left hand side and around the half hour mark made Diogo Dalot look a bit silly, only for David de Gea to save his effort on goal, when he may have been better crossing.

They would rue that chance, with the Old Trafford side taking the lead just three minutes later, thanks to the player who has transformed them more than any other, Casemiro.

From a free kick on the left hand side, Luke Shaw swung the ball into the box and Casemiro just about beat the offside trap to head home, he may not have even been playing if not for the Queen's death delaying games earlier in the season.

It took just six minutes for the five time League Cup winners to double their lead, unfortunately for him thanks to an own goal from Sven Botman.

Wout Weghorst played a brilliant through ball for Marcus Rashford, whose shot took a huge deflection off the Newcastle centre back, and sent it flying over Loris Karius.

The second half had a similar feel to it, as Newcastle attempted to put the pressure on, whilst United were more than willing to soak it up and try and hit on the counter.

Despite the arrival of Alexander Isak at half time, the Magpies did struggle to create too many opportunities, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka's own arrival keeping Saint-Maximin quieter.

There were screams for a penalty for Howe's team when Botman went down under the challenge of Bruno Fernandes, who gave away a penalty against Barcelona earlier in the week, but there was nothing doing.

The game rather stuttered to an end, with the winners continuing to hold firm and be difficult to break down, seeing out the game like a team far more used to success than this one actually is.

Now they'll look to see if they can add more silverware to their trophy cabinet before the end of the campaign.