Newcastle United won the Carabao Cup in style on Sunday, beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley Stadium to end their trophy drought.
Fans will look back on that performance as one of the best in the club’s history, and it came at just the right time.
Newcastle United lifted the Carabao Cup after dominating the majority of the game against Liverpool. The late goal from Federico Chiesa was a mere moment of solace for the Reds before the full-time whistle blew.
The Magpies will return to Tyneside with their first domestic trophy in 70 years, fans will give Eddie Howe a lot of credit for the work he has done in his three years as head coach. Alexander Isak scored his 23rd goal of the season with a fine finish a few minutes into the second half, he was unlucky not to add a third for Newcastle shortly after either.
There was a lot of talk about the battle between Isak and Virgil van Dijk in the build-up but Isak managed to find a way through despite looking a little shaky throughout the game.
However, there was one player who stole the headlines on Sunday, he did something that Liverpool boss Arne Slot had never seen before.
Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images
Arne Slot heaps praise onto Dan Burn after Carabao Cup performance
Liverpool weren’t at the races on Sunday and a lot of that can go down to Newcastle defender Dan Burn who put in possibly the best performance of his career.
The 32-year-old scored Newcastle’s opener just before half-time, a stunning header from near the edge of the box. Burn said he knew he’d scored for Newcastle as soon as the ball left his head, he didn’t have much competition in the air as he came up against Alexis Mac Allister who he made look tiny in comparison to his lanky frame.
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Given his height, the decision to put Mac Allister up against Burn was a bizarre one, but Slot explained it in his post-match press conference.
“Again, credit to Newcastle. But I can explain,” he said.
“We play zonal so we have five players zonally close to our goal, so if the ball falls there it is always one of the five stronger players that are going to attack that ball. And we have three players that man-mark and Macca is one of them.
“Normally a player like Dan Burn or another one runs to the zone because normally… I think he’s an exception to that because I have never seen in my life a player from that far away heading a ball with so much force into the far corner.
“That is part of logic, that they either have to go far away from our zone, which 99 out of 100 times that will never lead to a goal, or they have to arrive in our zone and then it’s an equal battle, if you want to call it like this.
“So credit to him, I think he’s one of the few players that can score a goal from that distance with his head.”
Dan Burn’s sensational season at Newcastle United
At 32, Burn may have thought he would’ve been slowing down as he prepares for the end of his career. However, that seems like anything but the case with the lanky defender proving that age is just a number with his impressive performances.
Burn has made 36 appearances in all competitions this season and played in every game throughout the Magpie’s sensational nine-game winning streak a few months ago.
Last week is sure to have been the best in Burn’s career, though. It started off with a win against West Ham before being called up to the England squad on Friday.
Nothing will be sweeter than scoring a goal for your boyhood club – Burn dreamed of that moment and it finally came true on Sunday.
Burn’s focus will be on England for the next two weeks, but the defender will then be tasked with helping Newcastle reach the Champions League.