VILLA PARK, Sporting Alert – Adnan Januzaj scored the only goal as Manchester United beat Aston Villa 1-0 in Friday night’s Premier League game at Villa Park.
Januzaj, a surprise starter in place of Ashley Young on the day, expertly took his chance when he picked up a wonder through ball from Juan Mata and finished past Brad Guzan, who was wrong-footed after a deflection off one of his defenders in the 29th minute.
Mata, who busy in the midfield all game, also delivered another first-class through ball pass late in the second half for Memphis Depay to double the lead.
However, the Dutchman failed to get his shot on target as he dragged his attempt wide of the mark, much to the disappointment of his manager Louis van Gaal, who moved him wide left for the game.
In the end though, Manchester United were able to make that one goal counted as the likes of Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Luke Shaw, Michael Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin all played impressively during the win.
The victory saw Man United going to the top of the English Premier League standings for the first time since the beginning of the David Moyes era at the start of the 2013-14 season.
The Red Devils were also keeping back-to-back clean sheets in the first two games of the season for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign.
Despite creating a limited amount of chances Louis van Gaal says he is happy with the way things are shaping up for his team.
“There is still a long way to go,” the Dutchman said. “You cannot expect it with only four weeks preparation.
“You need more matches to come in the form I think we can show.”
Meanwhile, Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood said he was disappointed with the result.
“I am disappointed with the result, I thought we nullified them, but it is to be expected, we have a lot of players out there trying to find their feet in English football. We will improve,” he said.
“It is hard to judge us against Manchester United, but it was not what I was looking for. We could be a bit more potent in the final third.”
Manchester United leads the English Premier League standings with six points after two games, but the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Leicester City could all overtake them with quality victories.
