Mason Greenwood Dazzles for Manchester United vs. Chelsea in FA Youth Cup

Manchester United's under-18s defeated Chelsea 4-3 in the FA Youth Cup at Leigh Sports Village on Monday, and Mason Greenwood was the star of the show as he bagged a hat-trick.

It was the Blues' first defeat in the tournament since they lost in the 2012-13 final against Norwich City—they had won the Youth Cup in each of the following five seasons.

Greenwood opened the scoring after just eight minutes when he capitalised on a mistake from Chelsea goalkeeper Karlo Ziger. Tariq Lamptey equalised shortly before the break, but Greenwood netted again in the first minute of the second half, evading defender Marcel Lavinier before coolly picking out the bottom corner.

Di'Shon Bernard made it 3-1 to the Red Devils before being sent off for a second bookable offence. His side being down to 10 men didn't stop Greenwood from completing his hat-trick when he intercepted a poor pass from Dynel Simeu and fired into the same corner.

Faustino Anjorin and Daishawn Redan scored late on in a nervous end to the match for United, but they held on to win.

For Greenwood, the hat-trick extended his remarkable record at youth level:

Football writers Ryan Baldi and Simon Peach have been impressed with the 17-year-old:

As well as his three well-taken goals, Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News also noted his maturity amid a heated confrontation between the two teams midway through the match:

The forward is yet to make an appearance for United's senior side, but he did make the bench for their defeat to Valencia in the UEFA Champions League last week.

Following his performance on Monday, United supporters took to Twitter to sing his praises and call for his inclusion in the first team:

Football writer Tom McDermott echoed that sentiment:

Greenwood could have some joy in that department following United's announcement on Tuesday that manager Jose Mourinho has been sacked, as the coach gave few opportunities to young players.

That said, the Red Devils' new caretaker boss will want to effect a quick turnaround in results, so the coming months may not be ideal for them to blood youngsters like Greenwood.

As Luckhurst noted, the likes of James Wilson and Will Keane have gone before him, but they failed to make an impact on the senior side after impressing at youth level. The former is now on loan at Aberdeen, while the latter is at Hull City.

For Greenwood, all he can do is keep maintaining a high level in United's youth setup and first-team opportunities will eventually follow. If he can follow in Marcus Rashford's footsteps and make the most of them, United could have an exciting young star on their hands.