The FA Cup final and penalties - it’s a frightful combination for Manchester United. This time it was Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup final, but the result was still the same - Manchester United lost.

It’s not all doom and gloom, even though this season has been a bit off-colour for United’s academy side as Manchester City’s kids ran away with the Under-18 league title and United are looking at 4th spot. There is a good crop of kids coming through (Brandy, Galbraith, Eikrem, Hewson, Evans, Ziegler) but at this point they’re a bit too young to considered anything more than just potential prospects.

As I didn’t see the game I can’t really comment on the match, however I will say that from what I’ve read, Liverpool were the better side (ironically, United won 2-1 in the first leg away at Anfield) and on tonight’s efforts deserved to win the second leg. No gripes about losing on penalties - it’s harsh, but that’s life for you, and it’s more important to see kids come back strongly from such disappointments at this age.

You can read the BBC match report here, and the ManUtd.com report here.