Goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford led Manchester United to their first trophy since 2017.
Manchester United had precious little time to toast their Carabao Cup win – due to pressing matters in other competitions – but players certainly made the most of what few hours they did have to celebrate.
Goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford – beneath the famous Wembley arch – earned United silverware for the first time since 2017 when they defeated Newcastle on Sunday afternoon. It was a memorable occasion for Erik ten Hag and his squad – yet there could be even more to come from them this season.
It was (almost) straight back to business for United following their stunning Carabao Cup win, but what went on after Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire led their victorious teammates up those iconic Wembley steps?
Starting with a pitchside parade, in which Ten Hag danced with his two former Ajax stars – Lisandro Martinez and Antony, the players soon moved inside where they were allowed to pop open a bottle (or two) of champagne and some commercial European beer!
Victor Lindelof appeared to hand out the Madri as Raphael Varane, Fred and their teammates toasted to their sweet taste of victory. Of course, they spared time to pose with the trophy – while an image featuring Ten Hag with Sir Alex Ferguson was indicative of the managerial baton finally being handed over.
And there was more to follow before Alejandro Garnacho hinted at a 2am finish.
Even before this win, spirits were high within the United camp and that new-found togetherness has been a major part of the upturn under Ten Hag since his appointment. It has allowed for some light-hearted mocking off the field and David de Gea found himself subject to a little taunting from Fernandes here.
De Gea was spotted posing with the trophy – while taking selfies – before the Portugal sensation strolled into the changing room to expose and laugh at his teammate. De Gea shared a brilliant reaction as he walked away from Fernandes while laughing and clutching the Carabao Cup as if he had saved a shot on target.
Fernandes did likewise on Monday morning as he messaged supporters via Instagram.
Of course, with this effectively being a mid-season trophy, there were no wild parties or anything like that nor an open-top bus parade. Garnacho, though, might have been among the last men standing as the highly-rated Argentina starlet posted a goodnight message via his Instagram story around 2am.
It’s well-known that players can take a while to come down from the adrenaline of a game at the best of times, let alone after a cup win so perhaps the early hours ending wasn’t all that surprising in reality. But even so, a late finish was the least Garnacho and his teammates deserved.
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