The 20-year-old forward was recalled by Louis van Gaal for his first Premier League start since February and, playing in his favoured no.10 position, netted the only goal of the game just before the half-hour mark.
The Belgian international didn't make the line-up or the bench for the opening match of the season against Tottenham Hotspur, prompting van Gaal to deny rumours that the young talent might move away from Manchester.
"It was only rumours," Adnan told Sky Sports. "I’m happy here and I want to fight for my place."
He replaced Ashley Young in United's starting line-up, the only change from the 1-0 win over Spurs last weekend. And after curling in his first United goal in 16 months he promised there is more to come.
“It felt good to get the goal because I've not had a game for a long time and my fitness is not so good, so I'm happy to score for the team and score the winner,” he added. “I hope to have more games in my legs and hopefully score more goals.”
ANALYSIS: ADNAN'S VILLA PARK DISPLAY
By Adam Higgins
Back in the mix: Adnan earned his first Reds start since 11 February and the Belgian repaid Louis van Gaal’s faith with an eye-catching 60-minute display and the winning strike, his first league goal since the 4-0 victory over Newcastle on 5 April 2014. Louis van Gaal had insisted Januzaj is not for sale after rumoured interest in loan and permanent moves for the promising youngster.
Instant impact: Mostly frequently previously deployed on the flanks, Januzaj was handed a role in his favoured no.10 position and immediately sought to find pockets of space between the lines. Just before the half-hour mark, he collected Juan Mata’s incisive pass, feigned a shot first time to completely fool Villa captain Micah Richards, before steering a shot into the bottom corner, just inside the post via a slight deflection.
Creative spark: The Belgian involved other team-mates with neat link-up play and showed vision to spread the ball with cross-field passes. He was always keen to receive the ball at every available opportunity and confident in his ability to engineer openings in the final third. Although he had little impact after the break and was replaced by Ander Herrera on the hour mark, he pointed out he is building his match sharpness. It's not time to get carried away but he offered encouraging glimpses of the promise that propelled him to prominence in a breakthrough 2013/14 season, and it shows he is a contender as a starter.
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