There were 95 minutes on the clock at Wembley when Newcastle United supporters waved their flags and defiantly roared: 'Na-na-na na, Geordies' to the tune of 'Hey Jude'. You would never have thought their side were 2-0 down against Manchester United in the closing stages of the Carabao Cup final.
Can you imagine if Newcastle ever finally end their long wait to win silverware? In a strange way, this felt like a glimpse of what those scenes would look like - even in defeat.
Newcastle's 54-year drought goes on, of course, after a header from Casemiro and Sven Botman's unfortunate own goal left the Magpies with a mountain to climb before half-time on Sunday. Newcastle have now lost each of their last nine matches at Wembley, a run that began in the 1974 FA Cup final, extending what is the longest ever losing streak by a club side at the venue.
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However familiar this sinking feeling felt for those who remember those defeats, this is the start of a new era rather than the end of one. If anything, the pain of seeing Manchester United lift the trophy will only push the club on and Eddie Howe certainly does not want to experience this feeling again.
"It hurts immensely because you feel like you've failed," the Newcastle boss told reporters. "You feel like you've not achieved what you wanted to do so, naturally, a negative sea of emotion hits you. That's how it should be in that moment.
"I don't think there's any other way to feel but, with defeat, sometimes, you can take positives from it and that's what I will look to do. I'm a very optimistic person in difficult moments. That's what I will have to be in the next few days."
Howe will have to lift these players, who were understandably 'down' after the defeat, but some of those involved may not get an opportunity like this again. As Howe even admitted, himself, after the game: "There will be some players that might not get back to Wembley."
Further changes are on the cards in the summer and it is hard to imagine Newcastle having to wait another 24 years to play in a final. Watching part-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi even vowed: "This is just the beginning...we will be back and we will win."
In truth, Newcastle are already ahead of schedule. To think it was only a year ago, to the day, that Howe's side were just four points clear of the relegation zone. To further put this cup run into perspective, it had been so long since Newcastle had previously reached a final that Sven Botman, Joe Willock, Alexander Isak were not even born when the black-and-whites last did so back in May, 1999. This was a final that was 24 years in the making and the biblical scenes in the capital on the eve of this game told you as much after Newcastle supporters took over Trafalgar Square.
However, Newcastle were not at Wembley for a day out. There was a laser-like focus to Newcastle's preparations - no mention of suit fittings, open top bus parades or who would lift the trophy if Howe's side ended the drought. Dan Burn spoke of how 'we should have that mentality that we are going there to win' while Kieran Trippier openly talked about 'bringing the trophy back to Newcastle'.
Although Newcastle's preparations were far from ideal, following Nick Pope's red card against Liverpool, the Magpies were otherwise close to full strength after having a clear week to prepare for their biggest game of the century. Callum Wilson, as a result, was fit to start and Bruno Guimaraes returned to the side after serving his three-match ban.
Walking out at Wembley for a cup final will have been a new experience for all of these players - this was even Trippier's first showpiece in England - but they were quickly made to feel right at home. There may have been as many tickets allocated to Newcastle supporters as their counterparts from Manchester, and beyond, yet it felt like there were thousands more after they raised the roof before kick-off. Even Wor Flags were in situ as the fans welcomed the players onto the field with a sea of black-and-white flags. If ever these players needed any added motivation...
How Newcastle handled that sense of occasion was always going to be telling against one of the most in-form sides in Europe, but this team have previously picked up results against the Red Devils, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea this season. For all Manchester United's strengths, Newcastle will not have travelled in fear and Howe and his staff had a game plan to win the final.
Central to that was Allan Saint-Maximin, who as good as passed as audition to start this game following his performance against Liverpool, and it was noticeable how often Newcastle got the ball to the Frenchman in the opening stages to try and get him running at Diogo Dalot. The Manchester United right-back did not like it and picked up a yellow card after just nine minutes for a cynical body check on Saint-Maximin.
Newcastle made an assured start and the Magpies had a couple of glimpses at goal. Fabian Schar headed Kieran Trippier's cross over the bar midway through the first half, clashing heads with Lisandro Martinez in the process, before Saint-Maximin had a huge opportunity just after the half-hour mark. It was Saint-Maximin who collected Longstaff's wicked ball across goal before the mercurial forward turned Dalot inside out once more and got a shot away - but David de Gea swatted the ball away with a fine stop.
It felt like a huge moment, a huge chance in a game like this, and Manchester United soon opened the scoring just a minute later when Casemiro headed the ball past Karius from Luke Shaw's free-kick. It was a poor goal for Newcastle to concede from a wide free-kick and the Magpies' evening was about to get even worse just six minutes later.
Weghorst was allowed to bring the ball forward as Newcastle backpedalled and the Manchester United striker slipped Rashford in. Rashford's drilled effort took a huge deflection off the foot of Sven Botman, which deceived Karius, who could only get his finger tips to the ball as it hit the back of the net. There was still so much time left, but Newcastle had only scored more than one goal in a game twice in 2023 so the comebacks of all comebacks was always going to be a big ask.
While Newcastle pushed to pull one back before half-time - Burn, leaning back, headed wide from Trippier's cross - the Magpies were indebted to Karius for keeping Weghorst's long-range effort out in the 45th minute. However difficult overturning a 2-0 deficit was going to be, 3-0 would have been insurmountable.
Howe used the break to make his first substitution as Alexander Isak replaced Sean Longstaff and Newcastle switched to a 4-2-3-1 to try and get a foothold back in the game. Newcastle certainly did that after the break but for all their possession, territory and corners, Howe's side lacked a killer instinct - even with another forward on the pitch.
It said it all that Newcastle only had two shots on target all game. For all their huff and puff, the black-and-whites did not test de Gea enough and the closest Howe's side came to setting up a grandstand finish was when Joelinton had a shot blocked behind by Martinez midway through the second half.
Yet Newcastle, to their credit, kept going and substitute Jacob Murphy's effort from distance swerved just wide in the 89th minute before Karius made a late save at the other end to deny Bruno Fernandes in stoppage time. By then, Newcastle supporters were waving their flags once more. Their day will come.
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