Aston Villa vs. Manchester United: Score and Reaction from 2015 Premier League

Manchester United climbed to the top of the Premier League table when they beat hosts Aston Villa 1-0 on Friday.

Adnan Januzaj's first-half goal was enough to separate the two sides, both of which failed to convince.

As in their defeat of Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day, it was hardly a vintage performance from the Red Devils, but they claimed the three points.

As United reported via their official Twitter feed, their side was largely unchanged, save for one important alteration:

Villa enjoyed some early possession but were unable to trouble the visitors' goal, while United struggled to find fluency in front of a vocal crowd at Villa Park.

Pundit and former player Gary Lineker was pleased with manager Louis van Gaal's decision to hand the 20-year-old Januzaj a central role, which ensured he was in the right position to finish off the move:

"

Good to see Januzaj play centrally. Always looked a bit trapped out wide.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 14, 2015"

The goal rattled Tim Sherwood's side, and United began to dominate possession but could not kill the game off as Wayne Rooney struggled to impress.

BEN STANSALL/Getty Images

The hosts were unlucky not to have a penalty before half-time, though, when Matteo Darmian impeded Micah Richards at corner by wrapping his arm around the defender's neck.

Villa flew out of the traps after the restart, with Jordan Amavi whipping a pair of dangerous crosses into the United box to no avail before Gabriel Agbonlahor headed a corner straight at Sergio Romero.

The Telegraph's Liam was exasperated with the Red Devils' slow tempo, which prevented them from threatening Villa's vulnerable back line:

The home side threw on Rudy Gestede as they sought an equaliser, but the towering, 6'4" forward failed to replicate his exploits from the win over Bournemouth on August 8, as he misheaded Ciaran Clark's cross.

Neither side impressed as the half wore on, with very little of note coming from either.

Rooney continued to fail in making his presence felt, as Liam opines:

As the match reached its conclusion, any hopes of some late drama quickly petered out as the quality of passing from both Villa and United was well below their best.

The Red Devils face Newcastle United at home in their next league match, and Van Gaal will be looking for a much more fluent performance from his charges. In the meantime, recruitment of a striker is a necessity with Rooney enduring such a slow start to the season.

Meanwhile, Villa face a difficult away trip to Crystal Palace on August 22. Alan Pardew's Eagles are a strong side, so Villa will be lucky to come away with any sort of positive result if they repeat their lacklustre performance at Selhurst Park. 

Post-Match Reaction

The result pleased Van Gaal after his side made it two wins from two, but he admitted the Red Devils have much to work on going forward. Per BBC Sport, he said:

"

The start to the season is better than last year but that is not so difficult. We had one point at this stage and now we have six, so I am very happy. ...

There is still a long way to go. You cannot expect it with only four weeks preparation. You need more matches to come in the form I think we can show.

"

Sherwood vowed his side will improve, pinpointing Villa's lack of ruthlessness up front as an area in need of work.

Per BBC Sport, he said: "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 added: "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."