Manchester United and Newcastle compete for the first piece of major domestic silverware on Sunday afternoon in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
The competition has recently been dominated by Manchester City since Pep Guardiola took charge, but their shock defeat at Southampton in the quarter-finals this season meant their monopoly over the League Cup, which has been known by many different sponsor names, wouldn’t continue in 2023.
Liverpool lifted the trophy last season after City had won six of the previous eight competitions.
The significance of the upcoming final between United and Newcastle can’t be understated given the situations of both clubs. Each is on the up under their respective managers, but a trophy would help catapult either project onto the next level.
United have enjoyed their fair share of success in this competition over the years, lifting the trophy five times in total. Their first triumph arrived in 1992 and was among Alex Ferguson’s earliest honours at the club, while their most recent came in 2017 and remains their last trophy of any kind.
The 2016/17 season was a mixed bag for the Red Devils. Led by Jose Mourinho, they disappointingly finished 6th in the Premier League but were still able to grind out two pieces of silverware – the Carabao Cup and Europa League.
Their route to Wembley in the Carabao Cup included a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the fourth round and a 4-1 thumping of West Ham in the quarter-finals. A 2-0 win in the first leg of their semi-final tie against Hull City put them in a great position to progress into the final, and a Paul Pogba strike in the second half of the second leg secured their place at Wembley despite eventually losing 2-1.
Claude Puel’s Southampton awaited Mourinho’s side in the competition’s showpiece, with the Saints looking to secure one more major scalp on their way to glory. They had beaten Arsenal and Liverpool to advance into the final, but United seemed destined to deny their dream when they took a 2-0 first-half lead thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic free-kick and a calm Jesse Lingard finish.
However, a quick-fire Manolo Gabbiadini brace either side of half-time restored parity for the Saints and it was they who looked the more likely to grab the all-important winner throughout the second half. But, with three minutes remaining, Zlatan landed the killer blow when he headed in Ander Herrera’s teasing cross. It was the Swede’s crowning moment during his only full season with United and a rare highlight of Mourinho’s tenure.
Newcastle’s 54-year trophy-drought since winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – a forerunner to the UEFA Cup and Europa League – in 1969 is well-publicised, but it still might surprise many to know that the Magpies have never actually won the League Cup at all.
They came closest in 1976 when they lost 2-1 in the final to Manchester City. To rub a little more salt into those wounds, it was Newcastle-born Dennis Tueart who scored the winner.
The rest of their League Cup history has been a case of quarter-final frustration. They have reached that stage of the competition eight times, with half of them coming since the 2014/15 season.
That record compares very poorly to what they have achieved in the FA Cup, which they have won three times – although not since 1955 – and reached another three finals.
Credit: 90min.com
