LIVERPOOL under21s suffered the same fate so many senior sides endure at Old Trafford last night – conceding a couple of soft penalties in a disappointing Premier League semi-final defeat, before Manchester United rubbed salt in the wound with a late third.
United striker Larnell Cole was the beneficiary of the official’s largesse, converting the two spot-kicks before touching in the third.
Despite the scoreline it was an admirable performance from Alex Inglethorpe’s young Reds.
Stephen Sama allegedly tripped Tom Lawrence in the area, allowing Cole to send goalkeeper Danny Ward the wrong way with a spot-kick that he tucked into the bottom-left corner.
Then in the 25th minute, Lawrence skipped into the 18-yard box before being knocked to the ground by Jon Flanagan, resulting in Cole facing Ward from 12 yards yet again.
The winger chose the opposite direction for his second penalty, side-footing past Ward to extend United’s lead.
With 20 minutes left an initial scramble for possession in the area resulted in Tom Thorpe teeing up Cole on the edge of the 18-yard box. The youngster was fortunate to see his rifled drive change course as it deflected through a crowd of players and past Ward to seal his hat-trick.
Liverpool’s lack of fortune continued when Jon Flanagan was dismissed two minutes later.
LIVERPOOL: Ward, Flanagan, Robinson, Sama, Jones, Coady, Peterson (Dunn), Teixeira, Morgan, Adorjan, Ibe.
