READING 1
SHOREY 90
ASTON VILLA 2
YOUNG 45, HAREWOOD 84

READING manager Steve Coppell admitted his side were second best yet again after Aston Villa inflicted an eighth successive Premiership defeat upon the hosts.
Goals from Ashley Young and substitute Marlon Harewood rendered Nicky Shorey’s free-kick as academic with Reading setting an unwanted club record for consecutive league defeats in the process.
Villa provided a slick attacking display, encapsulated by bright English prospects Gabriel Agbonlahor and Young but for it was a performance blighted by errors from sorry Reading.
“Villa are a team going for Europe and we are in the bottom three,” said Coppell, “They were better than us in a lot of phases of the game. The second goal was poor defending from us and that has been typical of a lot of our season – mistakes have cost us.”
After James Harper tested Scott Carson in the very first minute, the hosts never threatened the goal again until after the hour mark.
Even Gareth Barry’s shocking penalty high and wide of Hahnemann’s goal after referee Martin Atkinson harshly penalised Kalifa Cisse failed to change the flow of the game – or spark Reading at the same time.
Villa took the lead in first-half injury-time. Cisse missed a simple long ball from Craig Gardner, allowing Agbonlahor to break free on the right, and he crossed for Young who had time and space to shoot high into the roof of the net for the opener.
Reading forced a succession of corners just after the hour and the home faithful finally raised the volume in the Madejski Stadium but an equaliser just eluded them when Kitson’s flicked header was saved at point-blank range by Carson.
But substitute Harewood scored with devastating effect to effectively wrap up the points six minutes from time when he smashed home after Young was allowed to run from deep inside his own half.
Shorey’s free-kick goal was almost the last action of the match and Reading know they will have to do much better if they are to stay in the Premiership.

Reading: Marcus Hahnemann, Graeme Murty, Nicky Shorey, Kalifa Cisse (Ivar Ingimarsson 72), Ibrahima Sonko, Kevin Doyle (Shane Long 72), Stephen Hunt, John Oster (Jimmy Kebe 58), Dave Kitson, James Harper, Marek Matejovsky.

Att: 23,889

Ref: Martin Atkinson.