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Adnan Januzaj marked his Manchester United return with a goal as Louis van Gaal’s side beat Aston Villa 1-0 on Friday to claim a second consecutive Premier League victory.
Making his first start since February, Januzaj converted a glorious pass from Juan Mata on the half hour as United extended an unbeaten record in league games at Villa Park that now stands at 20 years.
Following a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, this victory, in a game brought forward due to a far-right march in the area on Saturday, means United, now top of the table, have started a season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2011.
“I think we have played better than last week, certainly in the first 25 minutes,” United manager Van Gaal said.
“But after we scored the goal, we were running out of the game. We had a lot of unnecessary ball losses.
“I’m very pleased, because you can’t get more points than six.”
It took United until November 22 to record their first away win last season and with Van Gaal having pinpointed his side’s away form as an area in need of improvement, he will hope that this win augurs well for the campaign ahead.
Villa gave home debuts to no fewer than six players, while new signing Adama Traore watched from the stands after completing his move from Barcelona, but despite strong starts to each half, last season’s beaten FA Cup finalists struggled to create chances.
With Januzaj starting behind Wayne Rooney at number 10, Memphis Depay moved to the left flank for United, and both took time to settle, Depay bundled over by Jordan Veretout and Januzaj flattened by Idrissa Gueye.
United went ahead in the 29th minute courtesy of Januzaj, who has been linked with a loan move after falling out of favour in Van Gaal’s first season.
After drifting to the left flank from the right, Mata released Januzaj with a brilliant through ball and the Belgian left Micah Richards on the turf with a sharp turn before beating Guzan with the aid of a deflection off Ciaran Clark. It was his first goal since April 2014.
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