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DEAN HENDERSON had waited nine years for this moment.
After progressing through United’s junior ranks, Henderson was sent on loan to Stockport, Grimsby, Shrewsbury and Sheffield United before finally making his first-team debut.
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So finally, he was given his debut, but it seemed like he wouldn’t have a single save to make.
Then, with 10 minutes to go, and United battling Luton, Henderson showed why he could replace David de Gea.
He is certainly convinced that De Gea will soon be a toast.
Luton’s Tom Lockyer may have thought his effort was going to sneak down the near post, but Henderson somehow managed to steal the ball from him and, from the rebound, Luton’s own player saw his effort blocked by Eric Bailly.
But it was that moment in class that prevented Luton from getting a well-deserved draw and sending the tie on penalties. Until then, they held onto Juan Mata’s penalty before substitutes Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood sealed the win with decent shots at the end.
But in terms of Henderson’s only class moment, at least Ole Gunnar Solskjaer learned one thing from this game, as there was very little else to discuss from his second XI.
No one really took the opportunity to stake a spot in the starting lineup for Saturday’s trip to Brighton. Similarly, United will travel to Preston or Brighton in the next round.
However, while United’s defense was solid enough, there was very little spark to the future and Odion Ighalo seemed completely isolated up front and rarely threatened.
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Jesse Lingard showed some flashes of skill alongside Donny van de Beek, but it was nothing special and it was another forgettable performance from Solskjaer’s team.
This wasn’t even Luton’s biggest game of the week as they made nine changes from Saturday as United wasn’t even their biggest game of the week.
In a game that club fans have been waiting for 14 years, Luton makes the short trip to Vicarage Road on Saturday for his battle against hated rivals Watford.
Since that last meeting, a 1-1 draw in April 2006, Luton exited the Football League, bounced back in the divisions and now are third in the Championship after a brilliant start.
Former boss Alex Ferguson always complained about coming here to this corner of Bedfordshire and it was United’s first game at Kenilworth Road in 28 years.
Captain Harry Maguire was the team’s only survivor, while United’s only signing from a frustrating summer, £ 40m midfielder Van de Beek, was making his full debut.
We only saw glimpses of what he’s capable of and one of those moments came early on when he showed impressive awareness by allowing Lingard to cross his legs for Mata to jump, but his half-decent punch was saved by James Shea.
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Given that his job prospects at United don’t look particularly bright, this was an opportunity for Lingard to put himself in the window, albeit against a team outside of the Premier League.
He looked smart enough and matched well with Van de Beek, although United were still expected to cause a few more problems in the first half.
Luton had worked incredibly hard defensively and then ruined it all with an unnecessary challenge from George Moncur on Brandon Williams just before halftime.
There wasn’t a great deal of contact from the son of former West Ham midfielder John Moncur, but it was a silly challenge even if Williams was looking in the referee’s direction for a foul before even hitting the ground.
Mata sent the Luton goalkeeper the wrong way with a confidently executed penalty and is now just one stroke away from becoming the 22nd player in United history to score half a century of goals.
Playing against his former club, Ryan Tunnicliffe denied the visitors a second with a goal-line block to deny Lingard, while Nemanja Matic and Van de Beek had shots from Shea.
Henderson made that crucial save, and at the end, substitute Rashford delivered a polished shot and fellow substitute Greenwood stroked the ball into the far corner for 3-0.
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