ASTON VILLA 0, MAN UNITED 1
Louis van Gaal was a satisfield man as Adnan Januzaj was Manchester United’s matchwinner extending their remarkable run of success at the home of Aston Villa.
The Reds manager was more than happy with the victory which made it back-to-back wins from their first two matches.
“I think we played better than last week. For an away match I am very happy,” he declared.
“We kept the ball better in the first 20 minutes, we scored a fantastic goal. After that we were a little bit nervous, but in the second half we played very controlled football and could have scored more than one.”
The Reds have not lost at Villa Park since 1995 when they went down on the opening day of the season when television pundit Alan Hanson uttered those never-to-be-forgotten words about not winning anything with kids.
That was two decades ago and United have since that day it has become their most successful stomping ground.
And it continued as Villa Park staged the first ever Friday night Premier League game, something which will become a regular feature from 2016/17 season.
The reason for this switch from Saturday was to avoid a clash with an English Defence League rally in nearby Walsall which will stretch police resources.
United made only one change from the starting line up that faced Tottenham in their opening match as Januzaj was preferred to Ashley Young.
Memphis Depay switched to the left flank enabling Januzaj to play in his preferred No 10 position just behind lone striker Wayne Rooney.
The opening was decidedly lukewarm with neither side threatening to break the deadlock.
United had several half chances with Morgan Schneiderlin failing to get on the end of Depay’s free kick, Villa keeper Brad Guzan sprinted from his line to block bravely at the feet of Depay who was unable to direct a header on target from Januzaj’s cross.
The breakthrough just short of the half was totally unexpected as the Reds took the lead through Januzaj who was released by a slide-rule pass from Mata.
The youngster produced a terrific turn to beat Micah Richards before seeing his low shot take a deflection past Guzan as it went in off the far upright.
It drew praise from van Gaal, though he added the young player has to contribute more to the tram than simply score.
That was the lone brightspot as the game continued to be one of decidedly few clear-cut chances as the teams cancelled out one another.
Van Gaal made a double switch after an hour replacing Januzaj and Michael Carrick with Ander Herrera and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
United ought to have sealed victory with 17 minutes left when Mata’s perfect pass released Depay who shot wide from 18 yards with just Guzan to beat.
Depay had another good chance as he forced a diving save from Guzan this time following a neat, passing move.
And in the latter stages, United kept possession well and took the sting out of the game as Villa struggled to get anywhere near the Reds’ goal such was the discipline of the display.