Manchester United earned their second win of the season on Friday night, as Adnan Januzaj’s first-half strike condemned Aston Villa to a 1-0 defeat.
The performance was not the best in attacking terms, but the team’s defensive organisation restricted Villa to just one shot on target, and Tim Sherwood’s side never really looked like scoring.
However, United only had two shots on target themselves, one of which was Januzaj’s winning goal.
The Belgian took his goal well after receiving a pass from Juan Mata deep inside the area, before turning his marker and scoring right-footed from close range after 29 minutes.
There were few talking points from the game thereafter, but Villa were denied a penalty just before half-time. Matteo Darmian was adjudged to be handling Micah Richards in the area, but the home side’s optimistic calls for a spot kick were denied.
An unspectacular second half followed, with neither side able to find their cutting edge. Rudy Gestede’s introduction threatened to cause havoc, but United’s defence, helped by the entrance of midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ander Herrera, was unchallenged throughout.
The only real chance of note in the second half came to Memphis. Mata’s low through ball to the left side found the onrushing Dutchman, who opened himself up well but shot just wide.
There were some encouraging points to be taken from the game, though, with the backline and midfield putting in a solid performance. New signings Matteo Darmian and Morgan Schneiderlin showed a great timing of the challenge and reading of the game, whilst Schweinsteiger controlled the game from midfield after he came on.
Memphis’ performance wasn’t an unqualified success once again, with the Dutchman misplacing some passes especially early on. However, he seemed to be making a lot of good runs and taking risks with the ball, which
was refreshing to see for a Man United winger in recent times.
Perhaps the only United player who was entirely unimpressive was Wayne Rooney. The captain’s first touch often eluded him, whilst he largely struggled to get involved in the game at all.
However, it is still early in the season and there is plenty of time for the attack to gel further. If United are to start winning games by greater goal margins, that will need to happen quickly.
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