Chapter 873: League Cup Retained
After the restart, Riyad Mahrez grew increasingly lively, popping up everywhere in attack with sharp touches, passing, movement, and shots.
Ryan Mason adjusted Spurs' defending, assigning special attention to Mahrez.
It was no longer about superstition—this Algerian was genuinely threatening.
With Mahrez tightly marked, Mason Greenwood's burden eased, and he sparked to life.
Brandon Williams picked Aurier's pocket and surged forward; Pierre-Emile Højbjerg tracked, but couldn't catch him.
Near the edge of the box, Williams slid a pass across.
Mahrez went to meet it; Toby Alderweireld beat him to it and hacked clear.
Jude Bellingham intercepted and fed Greenwood.
Greenwood smashed from range; Alderweireld deflected it behind.
Greenwood and Mahrez both appealed for handball.
"Handball!" Mourinho yelled from the touchline.
"Handball—looks like it struck Alderweireld's arm," Gary Lineker echoed.
The referee hesitated, then signaled a corner.
Mourinho protested at length and was warned, while replays showed the ball did strike Alderweireld's right hand—Spurs had escaped.
...
From the corner, Bruno swung it in. Scott McTominay, jostling with Alderweireld, failed to get a clean contact; the ball glanced off the back of his head and looped up.
Chaos ensued in the box. Amid the scramble, Fred swept it to Bruno. With Aurier closing, the captain resisted the shot and nudged it back to the D.
A figure exploded onto it, lashing through the ball.
"Dalot! Strikes!"
The shot was vicious; Hugo Lloris parried.
"Spilled!"
The ball popped up; Mahrez reacted first, muscling Alderweireld aside to poke it over the line into the unguarded net.
"GOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL!"
"Mahrez! The Algerian doubles United's lead!"
"Thirty-ninth minute—United 2–0 Spurs! Mahrez with the finish!"
Mourinho punched the air and roared at the touchline.
"With Mahrez making it two in this final, the pressure melted off Mourinho's shoulders."
On the pitch, Mahrez was swamped by teammates, beaming.
He wasn't a locked-in starter at United—competition was fierce, especially with France's prodigy on the wing—so a start in a final was rare, and a goal like this could reshuffle internal hierarchies.
...
Down 0–2, Spurs went all-in, pouring forward. But just before the break, United broke from the back after a turnover.
Bellingham fed Fred, who launched long from deep.
"Counter! United on the break!"
"Greenwood's running—Alderweireld chasing!"
Greenwood took it on the fly and tore away; Alderweireld chased in vain.
Facing the solitary Eric Dier in the area, Greenwood rattled step-overs and slipped past.
"He's going past the keeper!"
He shaped to shoot, drew Lloris down, dragged across, and rolled it into the empty net.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL!"
"Greenwood! Three! United 3–0 Spurs!"
"A familiar match, a familiar tempo, a familiar recipe," crowed the MUTV commentator. "Spurs again in tatters against United."
...
At 3–0, Mason stood on the touchline, hollow-eyed.
The director's lens hung on him—mercilessly. Pundits speculated about his thoughts; in truth, there weren't any—only the heavy ache of defeat.
At this score, Mason knew United had it.
Three down at the break and, worse, a broken spirit—what was left to play?
Yes, there was half a match and time on the clock—but context matters. Mason felt only dejection and helplessness.
His mind drifted beyond the final—to Spurs' future.
Mourinho's United felt like a juggernaut over England; with their quality and his coaching, they looked set to dominate the Premier League for quite some time. Even Pep Guardiola's City and Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool would struggle to pry the crown away—let alone Spurs.
At least for now, that was the reality.
...
In Mason's view, United, City, and Liverpool weren't Spurs' current rivals—those three outgunned Spurs. United had just dismantled them with a half-rotated lineup.
Liverpool and City had routed Spurs multiple times in recent seasons.
Spurs' real rivals were their London neighbors—Chelsea and Arsenal—three of the "Big Six" wrestling for the fourth Champions League spot.
In earlier seasons, Spurs had edged out Chelsea and Arsenal; the last two years, they'd fallen out of the Champions League places.
This season looked similar—Europa League qualification even felt distant.
Mason knew the root cause: retaining top talent.
For years, as soon as a star emerged at Spurs, a superclub pried him away—Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov, then Luka Modrić and Gareth Bale; more recently Harry Kane, even Christian Eriksen departed.
The Premier League is unforgiving; without elite players and a deep squad, success is elusive. Without success, it's even harder to keep stars—an inescapable vicious circle.
...
Halftime: United 3–0 Spurs—Bruno, Mahrez, and Greenwood on the sheet—United all but unassailable.
Before the second half, Mason made changes.
Moussa Sissoko replaced Giovani Lo Celso.
On came Gareth Bale, on loan from Real Madrid, for an invisible first-half Lucas Moura.
By the 89th minute, the score remained 3–0.
Some Spurs fans streamed out early, unwilling to watch their medals presentation.
Rare in a final—but it spoke volumes about the pain and disappointment.
United supporters rose to sing and dance, celebrating early.
The board showed two minutes added, but the referee ignored stoppage time and blew on 90:00.
Cameras caught Son Heung-min and others exhaling at the final whistle—the nightmare was over.
...
"Full time—3–0! United crush Spurs in the League Cup final."
"Congratulations to Manchester United and José Mourinho—back-to-back League Cups, retained with authority in a final with hardly any doubt."
"2020–2021 English League Cup champions—Manchester United!"
United's bench emptied—players and staff howling as they flooded the pitch.
Runners-up Spurs collected their medals; then came the champions.
United filed up one by one for gold.
Each glanced at the trophy waiting beside them.
No matter how many in recent seasons, no one tires of silverware.
Captain Bruno was last. Prince William placed the medal around his neck, then handed him the trophy.
Teammates counted down—three, two, one—and Bruno hoisted it high.
Scarlet confetti erupted behind the podium as Queen's "We Are the Champions" blasted over the stadium.
United fans thundered back, "Yes! We are the champions!"
New Wembley became a sea of red joy; four thousand sounded like tens of thousands.
After more than a year of pandemic hardship, United's faithful could finally celebrate a title with their team again.
(END CHAPTER)
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