Casemiro gives Manchester United what they have been waiting for in Carabao Cup final win

To become winners, Manchester United bought a winner. Casemiro, a serial winner, got the winner in the League Cup final.

Diogo Dalot held Erik ten Hag in a clinch at full-time and ‘Glory glory Man United’ reverberated around Wembley. The glory days are back.

A new plinth can be ordered for the Old Trafford museum and cans of silver polish are required again. There is a new attraction for its visitors.

Read more: United player ratings as they win the Carabao Cup

The worst silverware drought in 40 years at United is over. After a trophyless six years, it has taken ten Hag around six months to restore the glory glory to Man United.

As full-time loomed, the United supporters lifted their red, white and black bar scarves in unison and chanted ‘Forever and ever’. Creditably, the Newcastle followers waved their flags defiantly. Many still exited before the final whistle.

United have had fewer finer Februarys. Unbeaten in eight games, a new trophy will soon sit in the cabinet, they sit third in the Premier League and Barcelona were vanquished. This season is all but certain to be successful yet there is still so much to play for and Ten Hag will not settle with the League Cup. An open-top bus parade? Perish the thought.

Two goals in five minutes deflated Newcastle, arguably the better side until Casemiro rose imperiously in the 33rd minute. Newcastle were never in a position to run the clock down and it was their followers who whistled any delay to the resumption of play.

United supporters hogged onto the ball as Loris Karius waited to receive it. He was treated to a rendition of “You Scouse b—–d” and the ball was chucked towards the corner flag for him to retrieve. This was not the day for a redemption arc.

The pivotal goalkeeping intervention of the afternoon was David de Gea’s denial of Allan Saint-Maximin in the 30th minute, the latest pivotal stop from a player accustomed to victorious afternoons at the national stadium dating back to his United debut as a 20-year-old in the 2011 Community Shield. De Gea broke the record for United clean sheets with his 181st.

This was an anti-climactic League Cup final that was the most eagerly awaited in decades. A goal glut was never likely with a miserly Newcastle defence and a modest set of United goalscorers. Sven Botman was credited with an own goal.

Yet few expected United to be in such an auspicious position at the interval. As they did in their last League Cup final appearance six years ago, they were two goals to the good in the first 45 minutes. Newcastle never came close to matching Southampton’s resilience.

The half-time scoreline did not accurately reflect the half and Ten Hag left nothing to chance. Diogo Dalot, cautioned in the ninth minute for a cynical foul on Saint-Maximin and left with twisted blood by the Frenchman, was hooked at the interval for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

United have been a growing threat at set-pieces all season and it is not the first time Casemiro has converted from a Luke Shaw centre. They replayed their equaliser away at Chelsea, only this time from a dead ball.

Casemiro celebrated a first half goal kick nearly as ardently as his goal, imploring the United supporters who were applauding him to join in. They did. On a day the United end was sprinkled with green and gold, a Brazil flag was unfurled in homage to Casemiro.

United players managed the occasion sloppily for much of the second half so Ten Hag energised the midfield and attack with the experienced duo of Marcel Sabitzer and Scott McTominay. United almost immediately started to treasure the ball again.

Shaw was admonished four minutes into the restart for a needless tug that gifted Newcastle a free-kick inside their own area. Sir Alex Ferguson bullishly dubbed David Moyes a ‘winner’ upon his anointment in 2013. He wasn’t. Ten Hag is.

The Newcastle half of the stadium was completely occupied with 15 minutes still to go to kick-off on their first cup appearance at the new Wembley. United’s supporters lingered on the concourse and Wembley Way for longer and their end was full at kick-off.

Newcastle fans could be forgiven for believing they had initiated an invasion, such was their ubiquity on public transport in North London. “Ah, there they are,” one quipped when a minority of United supporters began a chant a goal kick away from the stadium.

It took the United followers less than three minutes to air “Cheer up Alan Shearer”. “Shearer turned you down” was the reply. Newcastle fans were corrected with “Shearer sent you down”. Shearer, wrapped in a black and white scarf, appeared glum.

The United fans quickly turned their ire onto Avram Glazer, in attendance in the directors’ box for only the sixth United game he has attended in the last four years. “You’ve seen United, now f–k off home” was tweaked to “Sell United and f–k off home”. Glazer was booed when he appeared on the big screen to shake Ten Hag’s hand.

Perhaps it was the tension of the occasion that caused the Geordies to quieten when the whistle was blown. United’s seasoned supporters, familiar with their surroundings, were more vocal.

Ten Hag did not spring any positional surprises at kick-off. Wout Weghorst’s inclusion was not a jolt in spite of a dire record of one goal in 11 starts and he was predictably profligate with the two opportunities that dropped at his feet. It is now one in 12.

It was during a stoppage after those opportunities that Ten Hag held a conflab with Weghorst and the striker then adjusted his positioning and was more incisive from deep. Weghorst’s interplay allowed him to carry the ball and play it into the channel for Rashford to secure the scruffy second that bounced off Botman and looped over a flimsy Karius.

Karius generated an appreciative ovation from the black and white shirts standing behind him for a save from Weghorst but he was not as well received at the opposite end. The most routine of kicks was soundtracked to catcalls anticipating an error as he was reminded of his Liverpool past.

He was not a winner.

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