Manchester United's youngsters would have been hot on their heels to impress once Jose Mourinho revealed he would select a youthful line-up for Red Devils' final game of the season.

The Portuguese confirmed well in advance of their game at home to Crystal Palace that he would not be selecting a full-strength team as they brought their league campaign to a close.

That gave the club's academy stars the incentive to step up and prove to the former Chelsea boss that they were worthy of a Premier League start.

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And the 54-year-old did indeed stick to his word as he ultimately abandoned United's league campaign and turned his full focus to their vital Europa League final against Ajax on Wednesday.

Mourinho named the youngest United line-up in Premier League history, with an average age of 22 years and 284 days, while marking the first starts for four members of his squad.

Josh Harrop was one of the lucky few to receive his debut against Palace. But the afternoon went far better than the 21-year-old midfielder had anticipated.

Youngster enjoys dream debut

After just 15 minutes, the United youngster scored a debut goal to remember and could have even doubled his tally before seeing his shot go narrowly wide of the mark.

It was of huge contrast to the Red Devils' other goalscorer, Paul Pogba - another United academy graduate who made his high-profile return to Old Trafford last summer as the world's most expensive player.

Harrop will hope he won't have to follow Pogba's footsteps in also becoming a key player at United, but, nonetheless, it marked an incredible end to the season for the midfielder.

And the 21-year-old, unknowingly, made it an incredible afternoon for one punter, also.

Lucky punter wins Harrop bet

According to Paddy Power, one fan selected Harrop among one of eight players to score anytime on the final day of the season, winning him a massive £125,000.

Fernando Llorente's late goal for Swansea sealed the punter's winning bet, while another fan just five miles down the road from the Manchester-based winner also was sweating on the Spaniard to score in order to earn a share of the £250,000 prize pot.

The audacious bet was arguably more overwhelming than Harrop scoring, making it an end to the season that those two fans will not forget anytime soon.

And while those two lucky supporters will be thinking of ways to spend their winnings during the off-season, everyone else will have to work out what to do between now and August.