Manchester United ended their 6-year trophy drought as they clinched the Carabao Cup 2022-23. It was a spectacular and dominant performance from Erik Ten Hag’s men as they cruised to a 2-0 win against Newcastle United in the finals.
In the 33rd minute of the game, nearly the whole of Wembley was sent into a frenzy as Brazilian midfielder Casemiro who came from Real Madrid, headed in a goal in the far corner to draw first blood for Manchester United.
6 minutes later, United doubled their lead through a Marcus Rashford goal. Marcus Rashford’s push towards the goal deflected through a defender of Newcastle and went right through the hands of Newcastle’s keeper.
Although being initially deemed an own goal by Botman, the goal was eventually changed to be given to Rashford, giving the England international his first final goal in seven appearances.
Manchester United had last won a trophy way back in 2017 when they won the Europa League. They beat Ajax 2-0 in the finals. Paul Pogba and Henrich Mkhitaryan had found their names on the goal-scoring sheet of Manchester United
This is Erik Ten Hag’s first silverware during his reign at Old Trafford since joining the club in 2022. He would be hoping that this is the first trophy of many more at Old Trafford.
“You have to win the first one and that is what we did today. We can get a lot of inspiration from this and more confidence that we can do it. We are still at the start of restoring Manchester United to where we belong — winning trophies,” said Erik Ten Hag after winning the Carabao Cup.
Manchester United have won the Carabao Cup (also known as EFL Cup) for 6 times. The English Football League (EFL) is known as Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons.
Manchester United slowly exorcizing last season’s ghosts
Last season, United finished in the 6th position in the Premier League after a fairly mediocre run. This year, Ten Hag has been instrumental in powering United above in the points table and presently the 20-time Premier League winners are sitting in the 3rd position in the points table.
In 24 games, they have mustered 15 wins and 4 draws and have 49 points in their kitty. Manchester United next lock horns with West Ham on 2nd March in the 5th round of the FA Cup.
In the Premier League, the Red Devils will be crossing swords with Liverpool in their next game on 5th March at the Anfield Stadium.
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