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Soccer-Van Gaal gives faint praise to United match-winner Januzaj

BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Adnan Januzaj, one of the bright young talents of world football, said he wanted to stay and fight for a place at Manchester United after his goal sealed a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on Friday. While manager Louis van Gaal hailed his Premier League match-winner as "wonderful", the rest of the Belgium forward's performance was damned with faint praise by the hard Dutch taskmaster. Januzaj, whose star has waned at Old Trafford since he burst on to the scene as one of the game's young diamonds, has been linked in the media with a loan move to Sunderland. After the 29th-minute goal at Villa Park showcased his exceptional skill and cool head in front of goal, the 20-year-old said his wish was to continue to prove his worth to Van Gaal. Asked about the potential loan move, Januzaj told Sky Sports: "No, it was only rumours. I'm happy here and, of course, I'm going to fight for my place. "It's feeling good to have scored a goal because I haven't had a game for a long time so my fitness is not so good. I hope to have more games in my legs and score more goals." Van Gaal said the youngster had impressed enough during training to earn a chance in his preferred role as a 'number 10'. The Dutchman was also pleased to hear Januzaj wanted to battle for a place but warned: "It also has to be he is showing that of course. "He scored a wonderful goal but all the other aspects of football, you have to show them also," said Van Gaal. "I'm very pleased that because of this goal we have won but there is more than only making a goal. "He also had a lot of ball losses, in my opinion unnecessarily. Memphis Depay had a lot of unnecessary ball losses. That's why we don't create too many chances and we have to improve that." United are top of the table with six points from two matches. (Writing by Ian Chadband, editing by Tony Jimenez)