Manchester united vs New castle: Carabao cup finals

Man United manager Erik ten Hag won the first piece of silverware of his Old Trafford reign thanks to a Casemiro header and a Sven Botman own goal, separated by just six minutes in the first half.

Six years ago, when Manchester United beat Southampton to win the Carabao Cup under Jose Mourinho, the onus was on the Portuguese to sustain success. One victory was good, of course, but fans wanted the silverware to keep coming – something they were used to when Alex Ferguson ruled the roost. Now, Erik ten Hag must succeed with a challenge his predecessor ultimately failed.

Certainly, there weren’t many coming forward tipping them to claim silverware after woeful defeats to Brighton and Brentford in their opening two league games.

But United have never been a club to just lie down and accept their fate. Fast-forward to now, and the transformation has been completely remarkable.

The Red Devils won their first trophy in six years on Sunday, putting Newcastle to the sword with a professional display on a straightforward afternoon at the office.

Ten hag on Interview carabao cup finals

“Yet again the right spirit, we have a very good spirit to fight and give everything. It was not always the best football but it was effective.

“First you have to win the first one and that is what we did today. You can get inspiration from this and more confidence that we can do it.

“We are still at the start of restoring Manchester United to where they belong and that is to be winning trophies. This is the first one.

“They are good and connected and they also challenge each other and it is a good dressing room and in the moment it is difficult they help each other out. It is the best a manager can get.

“I just want to win. We invest from the start with the staff. They did an incredible good job with the players. The staff and players are together. There was a hunger and desire for trophies because Man Utd stands for trophies.

“Raphael Varane, Casemiro and David de Gea know how to win trophies and you need such lads on the pitch to point the team. They have the winning attitude they have to bring it in the dressing room, in difficult situations and that is what they have done.”

Eddie on the Interview

I thought we were in it right until the end but the goal never came for us.

We probably had the best chances at the start of the match. We can be proud of our performance but we were not clinical enough.

As much as we didnt want the final to be a distraction it has been. The players gave everything.

It is a process, we want to be here on a regular basis. There is a long way to go to be the team we want to be.

This was Manchester United’s first trophy since 2017 and tangible proof of the progress made under Ten Hag this season. Statement wins over Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Barcelona have been good for morale, but Ten Hag has insisted all along that he’s only interested in the trophies — and he will hope the 2023 Carabao Cup is the first of many.

United reached three semifinals and a final under previous boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but developed a reputation as a team who couldn’t get over the line. Ten Hag, who joined the club in April, has ended that narrative at the first attempt, and this season could yet end with more silverware in the FA Cup, Europa League and, possibly, the Premier League.