Ole Gunnar Solskjaer selected five homegrown players in his XI - Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford - with two more on the bench in Axel Tuanzebe and Mason Greenwood, who came on in the closing stages of the 4-0 triumph over the Blues. Daniel James, the 21-year-old summer arrival from Swansea City, was another of the substitutes used.
The last time that many Academy graduates started a Premier League opener for the club was back in 2008, when Sir Alex Ferguson picked Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Fraizer Campbell for the home draw with Newcastle United.