Adnan Januzaj’s winner against Aston Villa was a reminder of his quality, writes Nick Wright…
Adnan Januzaj’s future was shrouded in doubt in the build-up to Manchester United’s trip to Aston Villa. The young Belgian was not even on the bench for last week’s victory over Tottenham, and on Thursday Louis van Gaal was fielding questions about a mooted loan move to Sunderland.
Januzaj had not started a Premier League match in six months, but just 24 hours later he was back in the team – and he provided a timely reminder of what he can do.
Januzaj’s recall came as surprise to just about everybody. Ashley Young was the man to make way, and Van Gaal even thrust his replacement into his favoured No 10 role ahead of Juan Mata and Memphis Depay. The Dutch boss only afforded Januzaj eight starts in the whole of last season, which made this sudden show of faith all the more unexpected.
But under the bright lights at Villa Park, Januzaj seized his chance and struck the decisive blow in what was another unspectacular but effective Manchester United performance. The Reds are now unbeaten in 13 games against Villa, and their latest goal was beautifully constructed.
Mata created it with a perfectly-weighted through ball after exchanging passes with Luke Shaw, but Januzaj had plenty left to do. The youngster coolly dummied Micah Richards’ despairing dive, steadied himself and hit a low shot off the back post via a Ciaran Clark deflection.
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