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Liverpool lost 2-1 to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
Wayne Rooney rubbed salt into the wound after Liverpool’s tough week.
The Reds were knocked out of the Champions League after suffering a penalty shootout loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16. Then Arne Slot’s side were comprehensively beaten 2-1 by Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. Liverpool were second-best throughout the contest and the Magpies deserved to end their 70-year drought for silverware.
Slot’s men are on course to be crowned Premier League winners. They have a 12-point lead at the top of the table with nine matches to go. But boyhood Evertonian and former Manchester United captain Rooney couldn’t help but take glee from Liverpool’s latest reverse. Speaking on Match of the Day 2, he said with a smirk: “I certainly enjoyed it! I was at the PSG game midweek and then obviously seeing the Newcastle game today.
“But Newcastle deserved it, I thought they were excellent they showed a lot of desire, fight, courage to take the ball, they could’ve won by a lot more. Liverpool just didn’t seem themselves.”
Fellow pundit Alan Shearer was in the Wembley stands to watch his boyhood club Newcastle in Carabao Cup final. Dan Burn headed the Magpies in front in the 44th minute with a powerful header before Alexander Isak doubled the advantage shortly into the second half.
While Shearer has been highly impressed by Liverpool in the Premier League, he - along with most watching - believes Newcastle were full value to claim the win. He posted on X: “I know I’m p***** but ……. Liverpool are a great club and will win the league and have been brilliant this season but the Geordies absolutely smashed them today and deserved it.”
Slot’s verdict
Slot missed out on the opportunity to claim his maiden piece of silverware since becoming Liverpool boss. The Reds started last week still with the possibility of claiming three trophies but it will be the Premier League title alone added to the Anfield cabinet.
Although losses to PSG and Newcastle were tough to take, Slot took the positive that the Reds have such a lofty advantage in the top flight with only nine fixtures remaining. The Liverpool head coach told reporters at his post-match press conference: “Disappointing result, disappointing performance. So, completely different than I felt after the Paris Saint-Germain game. Losing twice in a row is something I think we do for the first time. But that probably also comes with going into the latter stages of a tournament, so facing Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle in a final are two very good teams, both in their own styles.
“But very difficult teams to face, because we already knew from the game at St. James’ Park how difficult it is to beat them. It was a tough week but it was also a week where we extended our lead [in the Premier League] to 12 points from it being 10, so it wasn’t all negative. But the last two were definitely not the way we wanted it to be.”