The black-and-white clad hordes had turned up wondering if it would finally be the day. There was optimism and yet massive apprehension, too. The Newcastle United support had lived on the end of their nerves since setting up this Carabao Cup final with victory over Arsenal in the semi-final. When you last won a domestic trophy in 1955, the FA Cup victory over Manchester City, the goals from Jackie Milburn, Bobby Mitchell and George Hannah going down in folklore, it is going to be this way.

It would be the day, one when new legends were born. Above all, it was just a giant Newcastle party. Yes, there was tension at the end, of course there was when the board went up to show eight additional minutes and the Liverpool substitute Federico Chiesa ran through to make it 2-1, the goal given after a VAR review showed he was onside.

Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle: Carabao Cup final updates – live reaction

And yet once Alexander Isak had scored for 2-0 with a clinical half-volley early in the second-half, the result never truly felt in doubt. Newcastle simply refused to allow it to become yet another hard-luck story. They drove this triumph through their collective will.

Where to start? There was Dan Burn, who scored the first goal just before the interval with a thundering epic of a header and refused to concede an inch in defence. All this in the week of his first England call-up. There was Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton in midfield. There was Isak, of course. And then there was Eddie Howe.

When the manager took over in November 2021, Newcastle were in the Premier League’s relegation zone. He began by restoring stability, self-respect, and then led them up the division and into the Champions League. The dismantling of Paris Saint-Germain in October 2023 on the night when St James’ Park hosted Champions League football for the first season since 2002-03 will live forever. It was topped by this.

Newcastle were the underdogs. They were without the suspended Anthony Gordon, the injured Lewis Hall and Sven Botman. Their form had been erratic. They had not beaten Liverpool since December 2015. None of it mattered as they brought Liverpool to their knees for the second time this week.

Arne Slot had wanted to see a reaction to the Champions League last 16 exit against PSG but it did not come. The league title surely will and that will represent an outstanding achievement. This day belonged to Newcastle.

It was easy to feel that it meant more to Newcastle, principally because of their long wait for silverware and also because these type of showpieces have been so rare for them. It was just their sixth Wembley cup final since 1955. Not only had they lost each previous one, they had scored but a single goal (Alan Gowling against Manchester City in the 1976 League Cup final).

Alexander Isak and Tino Livramento celebrate after Isak scored their second goal. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Nigel French/Apl/Sportsphoto

What a scene it had been inside the stadium before kick-off, the black-and-white scarves swirling above every head in one half, the red outstretched in the other. The din was extraordinary, the nerves pounded. It was merely a taster.

Liverpool have been here so often, winning this competition last season thanks to Virgil Van Dijk’s 118th minute header against Chelsea. It seemed as though there was a greater jeopardy with Newcastle in terms of whether they could master the occasion.

Howe’s team fed off the emotion of the crowd, their players running hard from the first whistle, flinging themselves into the tackles, high physicality to the fore. One first-half moment summed things up, Joelinton sprinting back in the 38th minute to win the ball off Jarell Quansah. Joelinton clenched his fists and screamed at the Newcastle fans. Not that they needed gee-ing up. It was not the only time that Joelinton got his foot in to good effect. Or celebrated wildly with the supporters.

It was bedlam when Burn scored, the TV cut-aways picking out Alan Shearer losing his mind, Ant & Dec, too. What a week it has been for Burn, Thomas Tuchel joking that it is easy to overlook him because of his size.

How did Liverpool leave him so free? They had not heeded the warning on 36 minutes when Burn nodded a corner back for Guimarães, the Newcastle captain failing to muster the needed power on his flicked header from close-range. Guimarães was unmarked. It was a big chance.

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Newcastle consistently looked for Burn on corners and when Kieran Trippier drove over in the 45th minute, there was nobody close to the centre-half. He had started his run from deep and if the leap was majestic, there was something cinematic in how he butted the ball from quite a distance into the far corner.

Sandro Tonali had curled a shot wide on 24 minutes and it was fair to write that Liverpool simply did not turn up before the interval. They wanted to draw the ferocity from Newcastle, to finesse their passing patterns. It did not happen. Straight after the Burn goal, Luis Díaz headed back for Diogo Jota but he could not sort out his feet. It was a completely isolated first-half flicker from Liverpool.

Newcastle were in dreamland early in the second-half, disbelief etched across some of the faces of their supporters after Isak banged home. Newcastle had put the ball in the net a couple of minutes beforehand, Isak turning home after Caoimhín Kelleher’s save from Burn only to be pulled back for offside. It had followed another corner, Joelinton teeing up Burn from beyond the far post.

Now Tino Livramento hung up a high cross from the left and Jacob Murphy just seemed to want it more than Andy Robertson. When his header went to Isak, there was zero doubt about the first-time finish.

Slot made changes. One of them, Curtis Jones, drew a smart tip-over from Nick Pope after a flowing move. And yet it would have been totally over shortly after had Kelleher not kept out an improvised close-range volley from Isak.

Liverpool’s hopes were faint, even when the board went up to show the stoppage-time. They would score when Guimarães tried a risky spin move and was robbed by the substitute Harvey Elliott who played in Chiesa to finish. For Liverpool, it was too little, too late. When the full-time whistle sounded, the Newcastle celebrations exploded like a firecracker.

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