Goals: Manchester United – Newcastle United – Played on 02/26/ 2023
Manchester United ended its fast from standing on the podiums, and won the League Cup title, by defeating Newcastle United 2-0 on Sunday evening, in the final match that was held at Wembley Stadium.
Manchester United scored Casemiro (33) and Marcus Rashford (39).
This is the first title won by Manchester United, since winning the European League title in the 2016-2017 season. And the first during the reign of Dutch coach Eric Ten Hag.
Ten Hag relied on the usual 4-2-3-1 method of play, as Lisandro Martinez stood next to Raphael Varane deep in the back line, with the support of the fullbacks Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw, and unique cooperation with Casemiro in the middle of the field, while the trio Anthony and Bruno Fernandez moved. And Rashford, the striker’s alliance, Foote Fighurst.
On the next side, Newcastle coach Eddie Howe resorted to the 4-3-3 method of play, where the back line consisted of Kieran Trippier, Fabian Char, Sven Bosman, Dan Born, and Sean Longstaff exchanged roles with Bruno Guimaraes in the middle of the field, while Joelinton was closer to The front line consisting of Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson, and Alain Saint-Maximin.
Newcastle was the best and most daring party in the first ten minutes but was unable to deliver the ball to striker Wilson inside the penalty area.
The first chance of the match came in the 13th minute when Casemiro raised a cross, and it reached Fred, who passed it towards Vighurst, so the latter kept the ball, before turning around and hitting a creeping ball that was controlled by the German goalkeeper Loris Karius.
United goalkeeper David De Gea sent a long ball, which reached Rashford, who was trapped between 3 players and passed it to Anthony, who fired a shot at the goalkeeper’s parking spot in the 17th minute.
After a relatively quiet period, Newcastle came close to scoring in the 31st minute, when Longstaff’s pass reached Saint-Maximin, who skillfully dodged Dalot, before shooting from a narrow-angle, but De Gea pushed the ball away with his hand.
Two minutes later, United opened the scoring, and when Shaw executed a free kick from the left, Casemiro rose to it, heading the ball out of reach of the goalkeeper.
United soon added the second goal in the 39th minute, when Vighurst cleverly passed the ball towards Rashford, who shot from the left, so that defender Bosman put his foot in front of him, and accidentally put it in his team’s goal.
Trippier executed a short corner towards Almiron and exchanged the ball with him, before sending a cross, which the giant Berne rose to, blocking it with his head next to the post in the 43rd minute.
Manchester United almost added the third goal in stoppage time in the first half, when Vighurst received a pass from Fred, before firing a shot that Karius flew to a corner.
Manchester United made a substitution between half-time, in which Aaron Wan-Bissaka took the place of Dalot, while Newcastle replaced Longstaff with Swedish striker Alexander Isaac, turning the game into 4-2-3-1.
In the first minute of the second half, Rashford passed the ball to Fred on the outskirts of the penalty area, and the Brazilian international directed a shot that passed by the goal.
A minute later, Manchester United’s defense cut a cross, reaching Rashford, who putman away his attempt, and the ball rebounded to Anthony, whose curved shot was blocked by Karius.
Newcastle pressed hard toward Manchester United, but collided with tight defense, especially by Martinez, who cut one ball after another in the penalty area.
Newcastle broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, when Fred removed the ball from Joelinton, to reach Isaac, who fired a shot that was stopped by defender Varane.
Once again, United’s defense played a major role in stopping Newcastle’s shots in the 68th minute, when Joelinton and Wilson’s shots rebounded from Wan-Bissaka and Martinez.
Substitute Marcel Sabitzer passed the ball towards Rashford, who got rid of Bourne, before hitting a shot that Karius narrowly saved in the 74th minute.
For the rest of the time, Manchester United relied on counterattacks, so the other substitute, Jadon Sancho, passed a ball to Casemiro, who fired a low shot, which Karius controlled in the 86th minute.
And in the 88th minute, Newcastle substitute Jacob Murphy tried a long-range shot, which turned away at the last minute from the United goal post.
One minute after De Gea miraculously saved Joelinton’s header, Fernandez was alone in Newcastle’s goal and dribbled, before shooting instead of passing to Sancho, to be ably saved by Karius in stoppage time.
