It’s been five years and nine months, but Manchester United’s trophy draught is finally over after a 2-0 win over Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.

Topping off what has been a fantastic week for the club and possibly the start of something special.

Only a few days prior to the final United played Barcelona in the second leg of the Europa League play-off round. Coming from a goal down to win 2-1 with goals from Fred and Antony, sealing a famous win against the Catalan giants who have so often caused heartbreak for United in Europe.

After what was a physically and emotionally draining night at Old Trafford, the question was then how the team would respond at Wembley against Eddie Howe’s resilient Newcastle side. A team also experiencing a resurgence and desperate for silverware.

However, despite the Geordie fans creating a potentially intimidating atmosphere, United didn’t buckle to the occasion. The fact the team is now filled with serial winners such as Casemiro, Varane and Martinez certainly helps.

Casemiro was once again outstanding, picking up the man of the match award and proving his worth once again. The Brazilian even opened the scoring with a brilliant header.

Then another Marcus Rashford goal doubled the lead shortly after. Despite originally being given as an own goal, the decision was overturned, meaning Rashford scored in every round of the competition this season.

Newcastle may have had more possession (62% to United’s 38%) but struggled to create any clear opportunities against Ten Hag’s side. Their best chance came in the first half from Allan Saint-Maximin but his effort was stopped by David De Gea, who recorded his 181st clean sheet for the club, surpassing Peter Schmeichel.

The Spaniard then had little to do in the second half, thanks to his back four, putting their bodies in the line and celebrating their defensive duties as they have done all season. Wan-Bissaka was particularly impressive, being brought on at halftime to shut down Saint-Maximin who had been Newcastle’s live wire up until that point.

Once the final whistle blew, the celebrations began and to no surprise, Ten Hag received the biggest cheer when lifting the trophy. There’s no shadow of a doubt who is the boss and most important figure at Manchester United right now.

The manager will believe this is only the beginning for his team and as it’s so often said in football, the first trophy is always the hardest one to win. Hell, it even took Sir Alex the best part of four years to win his first.

Therefore, you can’t underestimate just how important this win could be in the long run for Manchester United and with three competitions still up for grabs, perhaps this could inspire more success in this campaign.

But before we start dreaming of more silverware, there’s football right around the corner for Ten Hag’s side, who next take on West Ham in the FA Cup 5th round.

After a chaotic February schedule that has seen United play eight games – winning six and drawing two - it's potentially a chance to rest those that have featured heavily in that time. That’s not to suggest that Ten Hag won’t want to win, as he has seemingly played a strong side in every competition thus far.

However, with a trip to Anfield only a few days after, he may want to give some of his big hitters a well-earned break before taking on a Liverpool team that needs to win to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

Until then though, fans can celebrate two brilliant results for Manchester United and hopefully just a snippet of things to come.

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