Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle (Chiesa 90+4′ | Burn 45′, Isak 52′)
That’s it. Newcastle United have done it. They’ve actually done it!
70 years without a major domestic trophy, 70 years of agonising defeats, 70 years of the oh-so-nears and what-might-have-beens.
Finally, somehow, manager Eddie Howe, backed by Saudi Arabia’s billions, put together the pieces of an Carabao Cup run that ended on Sunday with a surprise but deserved final victory against Liverpool.
A goal before half-time and one shortly after it giving one of the most passionate but long-suffering set of supporters the silverware they have so cherished.
And what a set of goals to win it with.
From a corner, you traditionally expect a 6ft 5ins centre-back to be steaming into the six-yard box and breaking bones and crossbars with a header, but Newcastle had other ideas.
Dan Burn was almost 10 yards out, hanging back in the corner of the penalty box, when Kieran Trippier floated a corner almost diagonally across it. Thundering was not an option, so instead Burn caressed the ball, possibly more tenderly than a football has ever been caressed by a forehead before, guiding it back across goal and watching it bounce into the far corner.
What a week for Burn, who celebrated every bit like the 32-year-old who had scored Newcastle’s first goal in a Wembley final in nearly half-a-century a few days after learning of his first England call-up.
It was Newcastle’s sixth corner of a half they had won hands-down when it came to energy and passion but still had little but a few half-chances to show for it.
Liverpool looked totally flat. Flattened by Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in midweek on their way out of the Champions League and unable, seemingly, to shake the feeling out of their bones. Maybe that long, punishing Tuesday night had taken its toll.
They had no shots on target in 40 minutes, and only one effort that statisticians were generous to label as one by the time the half was up.
At one stage, captain Virgil van Dijk rotated his hand to tell Caoimhin Kelleher, his goalkeeper who had the ball, to move things quicker and pass to him. Just after Alexander Isak had a goal ruled out for offside and still only trailing by one, Van Dijk stood over the free kick demanding with thrusts of his arms for his team-mates to come closer and give him options.
Minutes later, Isak scored again, and this time it counted: a tremendous first-time finish swept into the corner.
Newcastle, by contrast, were the polar opposite of their opponents, pumped up and almost bursting by the thousands of fans who had made the trip waving scarves laid out painstakingly on every seat before kick-off.
The occasion, for them, epitomised when, in the 38th minute, Joelinton chased Jarell Quansah 40 yards down the touchline, made up the five-yard head start, won the ball and then a free kick from his frustrated opponent.
Joelinton screamed like he had scored and the Newcastle end, barely needing an excuse as it was, responded in kind.
They cheered when Alan Shearer appeared on the big screens midway through the first half, black and white scarf draped around his neck in the stands. They did their best to drown out the red response when Steven Gerrard flashed up with boos.
All the while Joelinton was here, there and everywhere – blocking, tackling, pressing, passing, running endlessly from box to box. If the referee had not blown the final whistle, he would probably still be running now.
They were made to wait an agonising five minutes more when Federico Chiesa scored from the bench in stoppage time – a strike initially flagged offside but ruled on after a long, tense VAR check.
Then, finally, the wait was over.
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