Josh Harrop scored a dream debut goal as a youthful Manchester United side gave Reds fans an exciting glimpse of the future after impressing in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in the final Premier League match of the season at Old Trafford.
A first half debut goal from the impressive Harrop was doubled by Paul Pogba four minutes later as the Reds headed into Wednesday’s crucial UEFA Europa League final against Ajax in Stockholm in winning form.
Mourinho named the youngest United side in Premier League history with Joel Pereira making his first start in the domestic league, whilst debuts were handed to Demi Mitchell and Harrop. The more experienced Pogba returned from compassionate leave and the likes of Angel Gomes, who became the youngest player to pick up the Jimmy Murphy Youth Team Player of the Year trophy at the Reds’ awards night, Matthew Willock and Zachary Dearnley were named on the Reds substitutes’ bench for the first time.
With the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers all having progressed through the United academy system, today was a chance for the next bunch of rising stars to showcase their talent to the Old Trafford faithful.
One of those youngsters, Tim Fosu-Mensah, had to be on hand to deny Patrick van Aanholt inside the first two minutes with a last ditch challenge, as up front, Harrop started brightly, displaying a nice array of touches.
Another debutant, Mitchell then hit a glorious 30 yard ball over the top which found Wayne Rooney, in behind, but his chip over Wayne Hennessey found the roof of the net, rather than the back of it.
Harrop, who scored a hat-trick in midweek for the reserves, didn’t have to wait long to show another talent of his as he latched on to Pogba’s pass in behind, cut inside on his right foot and rifled the ball past Hennessey into the far corner for a dream debut goal, becoming the 100th different player to score for United in the Premier League.
Just four minutes later and the Reds were two up as Lingard broke from deep, fed Pogba, who evaded the falling Joel Ward to slot the ball through Hennessey’s legs to mark his return to the United side following the death of his father with a fitting goal.
