LONDON (AP) — Newcastle ended its 70-year-wait for a major domestic trophy by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the English League Cup final on Sunday.
Dan Burn and Alexander Isak scored either side of halftime to seal victory at Wembley.
Substitute Federico Chiesa pulled a goal back for Liverpool in added time, to set up a tense finish, but Newcastle held on.
Newcastle’s last major domestic trophy was the FA Cup in 1955 and this was its first piece of silverware since being bought by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in 2021.
Liverpool is 12 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and looks on course to win a record-equaling 20th English league title this season. But coach Arne Slot was forced to wait for his first trophy since succeeding Jurgen Klopp last year.
The defeat ended a painful week for the Merseyside club, which was knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday after losing to Paris Saint-Germain in a penalty shootout.
Burn’s powerful header fired Newcastle ahead just before halftime and Isak doubled the lead in the 52nd minute with a sweeping shot from close range.
Newcastle’s last major trophy was the now-defunct Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969.
There have been near misses and painful lows in the intervening years including back-to-back FA Cup final losses in 1998 and '99 and defeat to Manchester United in the League Cup final two years ago.
On this occasion Newcastle was a worthy winner against a Liverpool team that has been too good for its top flight rivals this season - losing just once in the league.
Arsenal closes gap
Mikel Merino led Arsenal to a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the Premier League to close the gap on Liverpool to 12 points.
Arsenal’s title hopes have faded in recent weeks, but Merino’s first-half header settled the London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
“The only thing we can do is try to win our matches. If we do, we are in a better position,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.
Merino rose in the 20th minute to flick Martin Odegaard’s near post corner beyond Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. It was enough to secure a first league win for Arsenal since Feb. 15.
Defeat for fourth-placed Chelsea means it missed the chance to extend its one-point lead over Manchester City in fifth and boost its chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Arsenal, on 58 points, is 10 clear of four-time defending champion City.
Spurs blow
Another setback for Tottenham is likely to increase the pressure on coach Ange Postecoglou heading into the international break after a 2-0 loss at Fulham.
Spurs, in 13th, have only won one of their last five in all competitions and this was a 15th league defeat of the season.
“It’s been a difficult campaign for sure. But I feel we’ve lost too many games that we should have got stuff out of, and this was one of those games,” Postecoglou said. “It’s another international break we go into off a loss and you feel that. We just need to make sure we’re ready for when we come back.”
Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham the lead in the 78th at Craven Cottage and Ryan Sessegnon doubled the home team’s lead 10 minutes later.
Fulham is eighth and four points behind Chelsea in the race for a Champions League place.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
James Robson, The Associated Press
