Manchester United on Sunday emerged the Champions of Carabao Cup after defeated Newcastle United in the final played at Wembley stadium.
And it was five-time Champions League winner Casemiro who headed Manchester United towards their first silverware in six years as Erik ten Hag’s side thwarted Newcastle’s hopes of ending a far longer drought.
That was the difference in this Carabao Cup Final because Newcastle enjoyed the majority of possession and played a decent share of the football.
But Ten Hag’s side were significantly sharper in both penalty areas and, in the space of six first-half minutes, they punctured the bubble of the Toon Army hordes with that Casemiro header and a deflected Marcus Rashford strike, awarded as a Sven Botman own goal.
Newcastle will be back at Wembley before long, Geordie Arabia’s ruthless bankrollers will make certain of that.
But Eddie Howe’s side, now winless in four matches, are beginning to look like what they are – approximately half of the team Howe inherited from Steve Bruce.
A quarter of a billion has already been spent since the Saudi takeover but there are still plenty of improvements to be done.