Manchester United have crushed Newcastle United's hopes of claiming a first domestic trophy for nearly 70 years with a clinical 2-0 victory in the League Cup final at Wembley.
Goals late in the first half by Casemiro and an own goal from Sven Botman silenced the hordes of Newcastle fans who flocked to the capital as Man United went on to lift the trophy for a sixth time.
While much of the build-up was about Newcastle's first appearance in a major final since 1999, it was Erik ten Hag's resurgent United who claimed the club's first silverware since winning the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017.
There was little between the sides in a scrappy first half but the English season's first silverware was effectively decided in the space of six minutes towards halftime.
Firstly Brazilian Casemiro met a superb Luke Shaw free kick in the 33rd minute to head past Loris Karius and six minutes later Newcastle were left deflated when Marcus Rashford's effort was deflected into his own goal by Botman.
Kicking towards their fans in the second half Newcastle roused themselves into action and pinned a leggy-looking United back at times but their wait for a trophy goes on.
Reuters.
