Barclays U21s: Cole treble sends United to final

Man Utd to face Spurs in Barclays U21 Premier League final after beating Liverpool at Old Trafford

Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool

Manchester United will meet Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the inaugural Barclays Under-21 Premier League after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Larnell Cole was the star, hitting a hat-trick as United saw off 10-man Liverpool in front of almost 3,000 fans. The United forward’s first two goals came from the penalty spot and he completed his treble in front of Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of the first team.

The first penalty came on 19 minutes thanks to a through-ball by Adnan Januzaj to Tom Lawrence, who was brought down by Stephen Sama. The Liverpool defender avoided a third red card against United this term with a booking. Cole sent Danny Ward the wrong way from the spot.

Seven minutes later, United had another penalty, again for a foul on Lawrence. This time Jon Flanagan was the guilty party. Cole went the other way with his spot-kick to double the lead.

In the second half, Cole got his third after a United corner was not cleared and almost scored a fourth. Liverpool’s cause was not helped by Flanagan’s red card for kicking the ball against Januzaj.

United will host the final at Old Trafford on Monday, 20 May, 7pm kick-off.

Man United: Amos; Vermijl, Thorpe, M Keane, James; Cole (A Pereira 84), Ekangamene, Tunnicliffe, Januzaj (Grimshaw 80), Lingard; Lawrence (Pearson 75). Subs: Sutherland, Wilson.

Liverpool: Ward, Flanagan, Robinson, Sama, Jones, Coady, Peterson (Dunn), Teixeira, Morgan, Adorjan, Ibe.

Man Utd report | Liverpool report

Barclays Under-21 Premier League semi-finals

Monday 13 May
Tottenham Hotspur (Pritchard, Obika 2) 3-2 Everton (McAleny, Long)

Tuesday 14 May
Manchester United (Cole 3) 3-0 Liverpool

Barclays Under-21 Premier League final

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, 20 May, 7pm

Download full fixture list here  | For full results click here

To view the league tables after the qualificaton stage, click here

You can follow developments on Twitter with the Premier League's account@premierleague or via the hashtag #BU21PL