Manchester United fans across the country and the world celebrated as their team defeated Newcastle United in the final of the League Cup, which saw the Red Devils win their first major trophy since 2017.
Statisically, the game was fairly close – but United were far more composed in front of goal. A header from Casemiro opened the scoring, followed by a deflected effort from Marcus Rashford six minutes later.
Newcastle were stunned and couldn’t find a reponse. In the end, United were good value for their victory, leaving the Toon without a major trophy since 1955.
United fans seemed unsure who was deserving of the most praise. Some gave the lion’s’ share to Erik Ten Hag for his canny substitutions and composed demeanour on the touchline, while others gave it to Casemiro for his man of the match performance.
Manchester United beat Leicester in the league, Barcelona in Europe & won the League Cup Final all in the space of 7 days. Not one hint of a complaint about fixture congestion and his team are just professionally getting the job done. Surreal ten Hag is our manager. Just surreal.
— Annemarie Dray (@AnnemarieDray) February 27, 2023
5 years and 277 days of waiting for a trophy are OVER! What a laudable triumph of great difficulty! Delights #MUFC pic.twitter.com/8xJWqjFmfF
— Kennedy Wandera (@KennedyWandera_) February 26, 2023
Casemiro is just mint.
You absolutely believe those reports saying he’s happier than he’s ever been playing football.
Obsessed with winning. Quite comfortably the best defensive midfielder in the world.
United need to take advantage of the time he’s here. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/OzX3tRlZiJ
— Alex Turk (@AlexCTurk) February 26, 2023
Woke up this morning feeling good 🏆 Thank You Erik Ten Hag 😘
It wasn’t a dream! pic.twitter.com/nhrqskq93W
— United Galactico 🏴 (@galactico_mufc) February 27, 2023
Casemiro is everything I hoped Ronaldo was going to be for this squad.
That is how one leads. Not by throwing tantrums.
— Tobias (@Tobias_MUFC) February 27, 2023
The best player in England. Carlos Henrique Casemiro 👑 pic.twitter.com/WX9DaPb2zN
— mario 🇶🇦🥷 (@marioo3s) February 26, 2023
Casemiro was fantastic in the game against the Magpies. The Brazilian dictated the play from deep, while fearlessly breaking up any Newcastle attacks through the centre. His tireless performance was crucial to United’s defensive integrity.
Ten Hag also got everything spot on. One particularly smart move was to substitute Diogo Dalot for Aaron Wan-Bissaka at half time – the Portuguese full back was playing well, but had picked up a booking. At 2-0, Ten Hag figured it would be a good idea to bring on a more defensive minded right back in his place.
Regardless of who deserves most of the credit – the millions of United fans across the globe will be elated with the result and the performance and Erik ten Hag has proven he is a top class manager and he deserves all the praise he is getting as he now has a real team on his hands and the future looks bright.
United will be ready to take advantage of Arsenal and City if they slip up but you know the United boss will keep the players’ feet firmly planted on the ground.