Reading were denied a point when Noel Hunt had strayed just offside as he followed up Jobi McAnuff’s shot and tapped the ball into the empty net. It was a tight decision but replays proved it to be correct one. One point would not have been good enough, but might have salvaged some hope on a dismal afternoon for the Royals. Losing at home for the second time in succession to fellow strugglers pushes Reading deeper into the relegation zone and lifted Villa out of the bottom three and four points ahead of the Royals.

Reading started brightly and in the second minute, good work by Robson-Kanu produced a great cross to the far post. Le Fondre peeled off his marker and headed firmly goalwards, but at a nice height for Guzan to save. A minute later Robson-Kanu almost controlled a cross from Le Fondre in a good scoring position but the ball did not roll kindly for him and he could not adjust his body sufficiently to get his shot away. Against physically strong Villa defence, Reading looked lightweight in attack without Pogrebnyak. Villa passed the ball well with Bannon and Weimann enjoying a lot of possession. Villa hit the bar with a Benteke header and should have taken the lead when Benteke turned Mariappa before slipping the ball to Weimann who dragged his shot wide with only Taylor to beat. Reading took the lead when Akpan flicked on McAnuff’s cross and Baker made a horrible mess of his clearance under no pressure whatsoever and deflected the ball into his own net. The lead lasted only a minute as a gaping hole appeared in the Royals defence and Benteke’s shot deflected past a wrong-footed Taylor. Reading continued to press but frustratingly McAnuff seemed intent on beating his man once too often rather than deliver a n early ball into the box. On the stroke of half time the Reading defence fell apart and Agbonlahor hammered home after several the ball had hit the woodwork and Reading failed to clear. There were a few discouraging boos from the home fans as the whistle blew. (Do they want their team to succeed?)

Reading were out early for the second half but Villa looked very confident in the opening five minutes and stroked the ball around as Reading chased and harried without getting near the ball. It took a match-saving challenge on Weimann on fifty-nine minutes to keep Reading in the game. Reading rallied and McAnuff cut in from the left and forced a good save from Guzan. Hunt followed up and tapped in from close range but celebrations were muted by the referee’s assistant’s flag for offside. Blackman and McLeary replaced Hunt and Leigertwood and more chances came Reading’s way. Robson-Kanu came close with well struck long range shots but it was clearly not going to be Reading’s day. Huge gaps appeared in the Reading defence as they pressed forward but Villa could not take advantage. The game became stretched but Villa gradually became more cautious and predictably began wasting time. Poor passing decisions were made when on at least two occasions player unmarked in space in wide positions were ignored in favour of the more congested route through the middle of the a packed central area. (A player of McAnuff’s quality should have known better.) Appeals for a penalty were denied when Blackman tumbled in the box.

Relegation is not inevitable, but after today’s result and performance, it is looking more likely. Nothing can be expected from the next two away games so the real battle resumes against Southampton in April. Let’s hope the players are up for the fight and with bit a luck we might still be hanging on hopefully for the final six games. I also hope the crowd get behind the team and the manager and save the debate about what we should have done until the season is over.
John Wells

As I drove to the ground and heard the team news I was convinced we were doomed before a ball was even kicked. We simply are not good enough at this level to play 4-4-2 and anyone who thinks we are is entirely deluded. The one good patch we had in January was when we played 4-3-2-1 with Guthrie in the 3. I think Legs, Akpan and Guthrie as the obvious call for the midfield 3 but for whatever reason Guthrie was excluded again. Madness. Villa dominated midfield and deservedly won the game – even though they are the poorest side I have seen at the Madstad this season.

It is not Legs fault. He was effectively playing in a one man midfield before he got subbed. After he went off we were effectively playing 4-0-6 instead of the 4-3-2-1 that we have on occasions succeeded with...

I don't want Brain sacked as he is proven at Championship level, but the sad truth is that we are Championship Club, with a Championship ownership (no money spent), and a Championship squad with a Championship manager and it is not fair on another team that we are taking up one of the 20 PL spots as we don't deserve to be here. At least now we can plan for another Championship season where we belong.
andrew1957

The squad that McDermott has assembled for this seasons campaign is simply not good enough. Plenty of effort, no quality on the ball in the middle of the park. Has anyone seen Le Fondre or is he still in Clark's pocket? Marriapa and HRK played well.
The Real Sandhurst Royal

Pearce at fault for second goal - was literally picking his nose as the initial cross game in and miles away from his man! Marriapa was bullied. Ledge gave away the first goal with an outrageously cr@p hoof in the air. I really can't see what Ledge offers that Jem, Tabby (sent off to Ipswich??) and Guthrie don't. Feel people are being really harsh on Jobi as he was our only attacking outlet. Tactics, players, attitude = POOR
Fezza

The lessons from the last time we were in the Prem have not been learned – investment in Prem quality players is what is required, we didn’t do that then and haven’t done it now and the result will be the same. This is a team that won the league last year not because they dominated every game or that they were the best team in the league but because Lady Luck smiled on them as they went on an incredible run that defied belief. What also defies belief is that the Club felt this team could do it again in the Prem – deluded I’m afraid. QPR quickly reached that conclusion with regard to Gorkss and Ledge and released them. The Champ is a hard league to get out of, we’re going back and for goodness knows how long. I would like to see some spirit for the remaining games and by that I mean pressing and tackles. Villa’s winning goal and the build up was frankly embarrassing. If we adopted a Wimbledon approach we might at least get somewhere. We’re not going to outplay teams.

I’m frustrated with the players inability to cope at this level but really that’s harsh, I never thought they were good enough and so what’s the point in getting frustrated. Brian’s tactics come in for criticism as does the lack of better player buys. The latter is out of his hands, that’s the Club and it’s a simple fact that the team with the better players wins matches nine times out or ten. The forward lines of all the teams around us are better than ours. It just might have been refreshing if, at the start of the season, the Club were honest and said, we’re surprised we got promoted, we hadn’t planned for it so soon, we’re not going to break the Bank, we’ll have a go with the same players and if we go down so be it, we’ll try again to get up. For me and my season ticket though it might be, after many years of support, one relegation too far – we messed it up last time and this for the same reason, the quality of players on the pitch and quite simply, lack of sensible ambition. This area has the potential to support a big Prem team, but for now we have a small Club mentality and no clear, at least to me, strategy in terms of what was realistically expected of this season.
Nick Tilehurst

Reading were left to nurse bitter regret, and not only for their dreadful defending in the first half. They had the chances, as Brian McDermott noted, to have taken "the decision-maker out of the game", in other words, the officials, who ignored two penalty appeals and ruled out for offside what would have been a second-half equaliser from Noel Hunt. Reading left their shooting boots in the dressing room.

Commendably, McDermott did not dwell on the decisions, despite being convinced that Hunt had been barged over in the early running by Brad Guzan and wondering whether the substitute Nick Blackman might had got something from an injury-time tangle inside the area with Yacouba Sylla, Villa's full Premier League debutant. But McDermott could not hide the pain of the defeat that pressed his team to joint-bottom of the table with Queens Park Rangers. Next up for them, after four straight league defeats, are trips to Manchester United and Arsenal.

"There were inches in the offside decision … I don't know if it was offside or not but the referee has got good eyes to see that," McDermott said. "The result is disappointing, to say the least. It certainly hurts. We didn't kick on at 1-0 and that's cost us."

The Reading crowd is edgy, and they jeered again when McDermott substituted Akpan and Hunt before the hour but not the disappointing Mikele Leigertwood. There were cheers when the midfielder was eventually withdrawn. But Reading carried the fight. Hal Robson-Kanu wasted a glorious chance, as he would towards the very end, and Blackman headed at Guzan.
The Guardian

It was not handsome, it was never more than scrappy, in truth the moments of quality could be listed on the back of a stamp, but the double-fisted punch with which Paul Lambert greeted the final whistle demonstrated how important these three points were to Aston Villa. With victory against an effortful, determined but toothless Reading , Lambert’s side moved out of the bottom three.

But the Reading fans barely had time to crank up their gloating chant of “that’s why you’re going down”, before the visitors equalised. Again it was a goal born of wretched defending. Andreas Weimann crossed and Christian Benteke hit a shot from the penalty spot. It was not his most powerful, but, as Stephen Kelly slid in to block, the deflection was enough to wrong-foot Stuart Taylor.

And it got worse for Reading. Just as half-time beckoned, Weimann again crossed. Kelly, like Baker before him, had time to clear, but kicked the ball in the air. It landed at Barry Bannan’s feet and his flick, via Taylor’s gloves, hit the post, squirting out to Gabriel Agbonlahor who hammered the ball into the roof of the net. It was the game’s one moment of quality, a finish Lambert reckoned “world class”.

The home side pressed hard for the equaliser that would keep their hopes alive. Noel Hunt had a goal ruled out for offside – not him, but Adam Le Fondre straying ahead of the Villa back line. And Nick Blackman thought he should have had a penalty when he tangled with Yacouba Sylla. After failure against Wigan, it meant another relegation rival left the Madejski with all the points. While Villa can look upwards, at Reading you fear the thinking is getting ever more wishful.
The Telegraph