Carabao Cup is Red! Manchester United don't need Qatari billions to overcome the Saudi Magpies

When Saudi Arabia's national investment fund purchased Newcastle United just over a year ago, they said they wanted to make the black and whites compete for trophies. They didn't lie. In only their first full season, the Magpies reached the Carabao Cup final - but they found out that playing in the final and winning in one are worlds apart.

Manchester United's class shone strongly on Sunday night at Wembley as the Red Devils powered to their first trophy in six years, beating Newcastle in a one-sided final.

First-half header from Casemiro and a Marcus Rashford finish that bounced off Sven Botman settled the game in the space of just six minutes. The two strikes were enough to knock the black and whites from the running and put Erik Ten Hag's team on the brink of glory.

Manchester United are finally on the right track - and it's all thanks to the former Ajax coach, who laid down the law at Old Trafford, giving the club and the team direction, confidence and the edge that was absent for many years. And if their owners, the Glazer family, really does sell the club to the wealthy Qatari investors, then Old Trafford will once again be the home of the world's best team. In the meantime, they are still strong enough to overcome any challenge Newcastle can provide - at least until the Saudi millions begin to make a real difference in the northeast of England.

Howe put Alexander Isak to join Callum Wilson upfront for the Magpies in the second half, but they couldn't break down the centre-back pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane. In the midfield, the Brazilian duo of Casemiro and Fred continued where it left off on Thursday against Barcelona and defused the danger several times.

Newcastle were attacking for most of the second half and were arguably the better team, but the lack of final product again. Their winger Allan Saint-Maximin in particular, was guilty of over-complicating a few promising attacks. His trickery saved Newcastle many times over the past three years, but on this occasion, it did little to help the black and whites. Newcastle's debutant goalie Loris Karius always looked more likely than David De Gea to concede the next goal.

Ultimately, the quality and the incredible calmness around the Manchester United team carried them to their first domestic trophy since 2017.

ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP

Final

Sunday

Manchester United - Newcastle United 2-0 (2-0)

/Casemiro 33, Botman 39 og/