There is every chance that the words uttered by Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville when Newcastle United took the lead in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final will become part of football folklore as the Magpies ended their decades-long trophy drought.
Newcastle saw less of the ball against previous holders Liverpool at Wembley Stadium but dominated the game in the capital, creating far more than their illustrious opposition.
The damage was done in a short spell either side of half-time, with boyhood Newcastle fan Dan Burn – released by the club aged 11 but brought back at 29 after a career primarily carved out in the Championship and League One – heading the Magpies into the lead just before the interval.
Alexander Isak, a player identified by Liverpool as a potential upgrade on Darwin Nunez in the transfer market, added the Newcastle second seven minutes after the restart.
Federico Chiesa’s stoppage time strike, subject to a lengthy and painfully tense VAR check set up a grandstand finish, shredding the nerves of Newcastle fans everywhere, but the Magpies held on.
The Reds, who were knocked out of the Champions League just days earlier after being outplayed over two legs by Paris Saint-Germain, had no response. This marks the first real crisis for Arne Slot since succeeding Jurgen Klopp last May, although to things into wider context, his team are still 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League with fewer than ten games left.
Newcastle have waited since 1969 for a major trophy, winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – a predecessor of the modern day UEFA Cup/Europa League. Their last major domestic trophy was even longer ago in 1955, when club legend Jackie Milburn was at the tail end of his career.
The Magpies have been agonisingly close to ending that drought on several occasions, losing FA Cup finals in 1974, 1998 and 1999, League Cup finals in 1976 and 2023, as well as finishing second in the Premier League in 1996 and 1997.
But Eddie Howe, who was bitterly disappointed to lose out to Manchester United in this final two years ago, has succeeded where the likes of Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and the late Sir Bobby Robson have failed in the past.
