Aston Villa vs. Manchester United: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
An Adnan Januzaj goal was enough for Manchester United to secure a 1-0 win at Aston Villa in a rare Friday night Premier League meeting.
Januzaj skillfully created a shooting opportunity for himself in the Villa box after Juan Mata had picked out the Belgian's run with an inch-perfect pass. Turning Micah Richards, his 29th-minute shot was deflected past Brad Guzan by Ciaran Clark.
Richards should have been awarded a penalty shortly afterward when he was held back by Matteo Darmian as he prepared to attack a corner. While Villa put the visitors under pressure in some encouraging spells of play, they largely failed to cause United goalkeeper Sergio Romero too many problems.
This was in part because of a fine defensive effort from Man United, who themselves were unable to create as much as they would have liked. Look out for the good and bad of their attack to feature in the subsequent look at the winners and losers of this Premier League clash.
Winner: Adnan Januzaj
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Januzaj grabbed his moment with aplomb.
Outfought by Aston Villa players a couple of times early on, he soon began to find some space. His movement should have warned the home side, but Villa didn't recognize the threat, and he was left unmarked for his strike by a ball-watching Idrissa Gueye.
It was Januzaj's fifth Premier League goal, but it was only his first since April 2014, per Squawka. This statistic is not too surprising given his difficulty breaking into Louis van Gaal's team. Indeed, Man United's Twitter page confirmed prior to kick-off that it was his first start since February.
Per the same source, Van Gaal announced on Thursday his intention to keep Januzaj around. The 20-year-old rewarded his manager's faith with an encouraging display that should see him get more playing time in the coming weeks.
Loser: Wayne Rooney
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In contrast to Januzaj, Wayne Rooney struggled through a frustrating night at Villa Park.
"Service hasn't been great...needs more support!" was the mid-match social media opinion of former Manchester United striker Andy Cole.
Rooney did often cut a lonely figure, working hard to close down Villa's defence but seeing little of the ball from his team-mates. Their best work often bypassed the lone frontman, and when it did come his way, poor play often broke down the move. As in one second-half instance, he combined well with Luke Shaw only for the left-back's return cutback to go awry.
Still, Rooney did not help himself. His own touch deserted him—his 78 per cent pass-completion rate fell short of his average accuracy from last season of 85 per cent, per Squawka—and he looked decidedly tepid.
Rooney will naturally remain a big part of Van Gaal's plans. But after two quiet displays to start the season from United's main frontman, the need for reinforcements is clear.
Winner: Micah Richards
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Rooney also suffered because of the close attention of Aston Villa's centre-back pair, Ciaran Clark and Micah Richards.
The duo sussed out the England international, comfortably dealing with him when he had his back to goal in search of the ball. When he looked to put them on the back foot, they caught him in more than one well-executed offside trap.
Richards will be disappointed to have been outwitted by Januzaj for Man United's goal, but the defender's overall display suggested he is responding well to Tim Sherwood's faith in him—not to mention the captaincy he has been awarded by his new manager.
"He has a good aura about him, and the boys look up to him," Sherwood said prior to the match, per the Daily Express' Peter Edwards. "On the pitch, he leads by example, and he is vocal as well."
More than once, Richards led well, making committed, well-judged challenges and then bursting forward to try to catch United in disarray.
His blend of athleticism and defensive instincts has always marked him out as one of England's most talented players in the position. If he can parlay this bright start with Villa into a more consistent performance level, he may yet fulfill that early promise.
For that to happen, Richards will need to continue to work on his fledgling partnership with Clark while also addressing more erratic concentration issues in his individual game.
Loser: Jordan Ayew
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Jordan Ayew did little to endear himself to his new fans in his first start at Villa Park.
Per Squawka, the attacker failed in all six of his attempted take-ons. When he did get a sight of goal, he either blasted over or went down with one of the most brazen displays of diving as you are likely to see all season.
"I didn't like [Christian] Benteke when I first saw him and I don't like my first look at Jordan Ayew," offered the Telegraph's Matt Law, optimistically adding, "Hopefully the result is the same."
There is ample time for Ayew to show he can be as important for Villa as the recently departed Benteke was (albeit he is a less direct goalscoring threat). But this wasteful and ultimately lazy effort will need to be greatly improved upon if he is to get anywhere close.
Winner: Manchester United's Defence
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The most trouble Manchester United's defence had all night was dealing with Aston Villa's lively full-back pair, Leandro Bacuna and Jordan Amavi. The Frenchman especially got forward well at times and deserved better for his positive crossing.
Off the back of a strong effort stopping Tottenham Hotspur and their main man Harry Kane, the United back four of Daley Blind, Darmian, Shaw and Chris Smalling put in another performance that bodes well for their attempt at cementing themselves as Van Gaal's preferred defensive grouping.
While the full-backs were troubled at times by their aforementioned counterparts, centre-backs Blind and Smalling reliably disrupted the majority of attempts by Villa's attackers to make something of the subsequent crossing.
"Aston Villa brought on [Rudy] Gestede and started with the long balls, but Smalling won every header," a pleased Van Gaal told Sky Sports post-match, per Man United's official Twitter.
After several years attempting to replace the successful centre-back pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, could United have finally found their combination?
It is, of course, a little too early to say. But Blind and Smalling have looked good together, and it will be intriguing to see how United fare if Van Gaal decides to change things up with four games to come over the following fortnight.
