Villa plunge into bottom three, Cardiff on top
ASTON Villa crashed into the Championship relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat at Reading, while Cardiff sit top of the table following their 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Tuesday.
Villa’s latest stumble means their star defender John Terry is still searching for his first Championship win since joining Steve Bruce’s side following his release by Chelsea at the end of last season.
Terry and company fell behind four minutes into the second half when Glenn Whelan deflected Adrian Popa’s cross into his own net.
The Royals, beaten by Huddersfield on penalties in last season’s playoff final, doubled their lead after 55 minutes through a close-range effort from Mo Barrow.
Villa, one of the preseason promotion favourites thanks to Terry’s arrival, pulled a late goal back through Conor Hourihane but it was not enough to stop them slipping to second bottom.
At the Cardiff City Stadium, Sean Morrison headed the Bluebirds in front from a corner just before the interval before midfielder Nathaniel MendezLaing netted his fourth goal of the season 10 minutes into the second half.
Wolves also made it three league wins in a row with a 3-2 win at Hull. The visitors raced into an early lead through Ruben Neves, but Hull were back on level terms after 27 minutes when Michael Dawson headed in a corner.
On-loan Atletico Madrid midfielder Diogo Jota put the visitors back in front two minutes ahead of the break. Sub Ricardo Cavaleiro slotted home a third in stoppage time before David Meyler’s penalty for Hull reduced the deficit.
Ipswich are the other team to have maximum points from their first three matches after a late goal from Jordan Spence secured a dramatic 4-3 win at Millwall.
Barnsley picked up their first points of the new campaign with a 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest.
Bristol City grabbed an equaliser deep into eight minutes of stoppage time to bag a 2-2 draw at Brentford.
A 58th-minute penalty from Matej Vydra was enough to give Derby a 1-0 home win over Preston.
Britt Assombalonga scored twice as Middlesbrough beat 10-man Burton 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium.
There were no goals between Birmingham and Bolton at St Andrew’s, while Leeds and Fulham also shared a 0-0 draw.