Manchester United continued their winning start to the Premier League as they overcame Aston Villa 1-0 in what was yet another solid performance, although it was not the best viewing. Adnan Januzaj scored in the first half after an impressive start to the game. The Belgian had question marks all over his United future coming into the game, but a rare start and a goal will have lifted his spirits immensely.

Juan Mata was another player who greatly impressed. The Spaniard was deployed on his usual right side, but it is clear that when played in a more central role the 27-year-old is much more effective. Mata created the initial goal, and provided a perfect pass into new signing Memphis Depay’s range, which the Dutchman missed.

Villa didn’t offer United much going forward, but the United back 4 of Darmian, Smalling, Blind and Shaw all impressed once again – ensuring Romero his 2nd clean sheet in 2 games for United.

Schweinsteiger and Herrera were introduced into the midfield after the hour mark, and both played their part in simmering the game down. The German especially showed how his experience can influence United positively.

Wayne Rooney had yet another poor game. The striker was dismal throughout, giving the ball away countless times and failing to have any effect whatsoever on the game.

Here is how we rated the Manchester United players – all ratings are scored out of 10:

Romero – 6.5

Darmian – 7

Smalling – 7.5

Blind – 8

Shaw – 6.5

Carrick – 6.5

Schneiderlin – 7

Mata – 8

Januzaj – 7

Depay – 6

Rooney – 5

Substitutes: Herrera (6.5), Schweinsteiger (7), Young (6)