Analysis, reaction & your views as Newcastle win Carabao Cup
Eddie Howe's side beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley to end 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy
Newcastle analysis: The stats behind the success, Newcastle's honours
Liverpool analysis: Salah's scoring record in finals & stats
Reaction: 'Best day' of Guimaraes' life, 'That was amazing!' - Shearer
Your views: 'Paddington's a Geordie', 31-year-old Brown Ale finally consumed & Matthew's 'unreal weekend'
Premier League: Man Utd, Arsenal and Fulham win
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Olive supporting her local side yesterday (even though her Dad is a sad Liverpool fan today)
Jack, Newcastle
Image source, Newcastle fanMy dogs are black and white through and through!
James, North Shields
Image source, Newcastle fanLeicester 0-3 Man Utd
Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter
'From the dogs of war to doggy daycare' - some Leicester fans made their point last night as the Foxes' struggles continued.
The banner at the King Power Stadium referenced the huge flag Leicester unfurled before the their Champions League last-16 second-leg victory over Sevilla in 2017 that sent them into the quarter-finals.
Eight years later Leicester are set for a second relegation in three seasons after another chastening evening for Ruud Van Nistelrooy following Sunday's 3-0 defeat to former club Manchester United.
The Foxes even set a new top-flight record of seven straight home defeats without scoring with the fans' focus still on the hierarchy and their discontent with the running of the club, rather than on Van Nistelrooy.
Director of football Jon Rudkin remains in their sights with the feeling the legacy of the Premier League win, their Champions League run and FA Cup triumph in 2021 has been blown.
Van Nistelrooy - who was only able to sign defender Woyo Coulibaly for around £3m in January - has lost 13 of his last 14 games but, with the problems at Leicester running deeper, has escaped the fans' public fury for now.
We are so back, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm back to take you through the hard-hitting stuff for the last hour, like more pictures of dogs.
I'll trickle some Premier League analysis, reaction and insight in there as well - to keep myself in the good books.
Eddie Howe arrives back in Newcastle, trophy in hand.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
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There are some belting pictures still to come, but I've had my eye on this one for a while.
The thinking is that Steve from Bishop Auckland must be a fan of Australian soaps. Here is his homage to Home and Away, with his two faithful friends dressed appropriately.
Image source, Newcastle fansRight, sorry for lowering the mood.
Don't worry, Ben will be back in a moment with reaction to this weekend's Premier League fixtures and, of course, some more members of the Toon Army Canine Supporters Association (known as TACSA - if it existed)...
As it stands, Mohamed Salah's contract at Liverpool is due to run out at the end of the season, so Sunday's defeat in the EFL Cup final could be his last Wembley appearance for the Reds.
But, should he choose not to stay at Anfield, his time at the club could still end with a trophy.
Liverpool have nine Premier League fixtures remaining and need 16 points to cement themselves as English champions for a record-equalling 20th time:
Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle
Image source, Getty ImagesWe say uncharacteristic because Mohamed Salah has had an otherwise stunning season, scoring 32 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions.
But the 32-year-old Egyptian forward has struggled to impose himself in cup finals before.
In 11 finals he has played for Liverpool and Egypt, Salah has failed to register a goal from open play:
Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle
One of the truly shocking aspects of Liverpool's below-par display in Sunday's EFL Cup final defeat to Newcastle was Mohamed Salah's uncharacteristic performance.
If you were watching the game and felt like he was hardly involved, that's because that's kind of the truth.
The Liverpool forward had just 23 touches on the day - the least by far out of any player that completed 90 minutes.
And, brace yourself for this staggering fact...
According to Opta, for the first time in his Liverpool career, he neither attempted a shot nor created a chance in a match where he played 90+ minutes.
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It's great some Newcastle fans have the moral fibre to speak out against their owners at this time rather than doing what the majority have and embraced an oppressive regime because it won them a cup. Sadly, it will lead to no meaningful change. If the club had won under different owners this would be a great day.
Carl, Newcastle
Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle
Stephen Warnock
Former Liverpool defender on the Football Daily podcast
Newcastle smothered Liverpool and made it difficult for them.
After the week Liverpool have had, I wonder if Arne Slot might look back and think one of the biggest lessons was not making more changes for the Southampton game.
They were 13 points clear going into that game and they made just three changes. Would he have made more looking back now? The league will take care of itself over the course of time and they are still good enough to see it through, but this Liverpool team looked tired at Wembley.
But credit to Newcastle because they preyed on that and made the most of it.
How and when Liverpool went out of this season's cup competitions:
9 Feb: Lost 1-0 at Championship side Plymouth in the fourth round of the FA Cup
11 Mar: Beaten 4-1 on penalties by Paris St-Germain at Anfield in the last-16 of the Champions League
16 Mar: Downed 2-1 by Newcastle at Wembley in the EFL Cup final.
Image source, Getty ImagesWhile some Newcastle fans have admitted to feeling conflicted yesterday, there will have been many Liverpool supporters who shared a similar feeling, but for very different reasons.
Arne Slot has led the Reds to the brink of a first Premier League title in five years in his first season in charge.
But while they will be hoping to capitalise on their 12-point lead to win the league, a possible hat-trick of cup victories have gone begging over the past month...
John Hird, a founder of Newcastle supporters group NUFCFAS, also reflected on the Magpies' EFL Cup victory with his own personal statement.
“I was born a Toon fan," he said. "I remember my dad crying his eyes out after he came back from the Fairs Cup win in 1969. I still have the scrap book of the cup run he made me.
"I and many other Newcastle fans were fans long before the Saudis took over the club.
"We’ll still be fans long after they’ve been forced out and we will have stayed true to our values and working-class traditions of solidarity."
Image source, Getty ImagesAnyone who watched coverage of Sunday's EFL Cup final will have seen images of the man above with the trophy, mixing with Newcastle players and staff during post-match celebrations on the Wembley turf.
He is Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan - the governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, which took over the club in 2021.
Newcastle United supporters' group NUFCFAS issued a statement today raising questions about the club's ownership.
It read: "At the final we had the spectacle of Yasir al-Rumayyan holding the Carabao Cup aloft. Due to lack of scrutiny by the media, most fans will be unaware that the Newcastle United chairman is also a sitting Saudi minster and a right-hand man of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
"Fans of other clubs, while happy for our fans for winning our first domestic trophy in 70 years, are also pointing out that it comes at a price.
"We know that it should be a great day for the city of Newcastle and many will feel that way but for us it is unfortunately tainted by the ownership of the club.
"When we see the chairman celebrating with the trophy, it is very difficult to separate the success of the club from the ownership."
So many Newcastle fans have had a story to tell today, but a good number have also issued a note of caution about the club's current ownership.
Coming up is a statement from supporters group NUFCFAS...
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I've woken up this morning, having been a Toon fan for 50 odd years. My first game was with my dad at the 1974 cup final. Made my two boys support them despite living 200 miles away. Yesterday was my birthday, the three of us watched it with a bunch of mad Toon fans in The Dolphin in King's Cross. I never bet, but did yesterday - 2-1 and Isak to score. £150 win. Best of my 58 birthdays and unlikely to ever be bettered. Still in shock.
Anon
Image source, Getty ImagesSurely it is important as a football fan to keep believing, even when a supercomputer only gives you 0.7% chance.
Take our next Newcastle correspondent for example, who thought all his 58 birthdays had come at once on Sunday...
The Premier League's relegation battle is seemingly not a battle and its about who finishes 18th and 19th - since Southampton have essentially sealed their fate as the worst team in the league.
Opta's supercomputer laid out which clubs have the chance to stay up and the probability of them doing it -
Wolves are currently nine points ahead of Ipswich and Leicester City with nine games left to play.
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…and can I just pint out that we had to beat the top four teams in the Premier League to win the EFL Cup yesterday!
Richard, Brentford
We see what you did there Richard. Good night was it?
