BJARN D’OR IS A BIG HIT
Golden boy Birkir keeps alive play-off hopes
ICEMAN Birkir Bjarnason kept cool and got Aston Villa out of their mini-slump and on course for the play-offs at least.
An automatic promotion place might be too much to ask, having taken only one point from their previous three games – but Villa haven’t given up.
Manager Steve Bruce says his team must win at least six of their remaining games to do it and this was the first step.
Reading were down to 10 men for an hour after David Edwards was sent off for two yellow cards and were dominated throughout.
It took Iceland star Bjarnason’s fourth goal of the season in the 46th minute to give Villa their breakthrough and then Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan piled in more.
With this the first of three games out of the next four at home, Villa had the chance to recover from recent damage.
The sending off of Edwards in the 30th minute for fouls on Jack Grealish and Bjarnason gave the hosts even more impetus.
Hogan, Bjarnason, Grealish, Hourihane, Robert Snodgrass and Albert Adomah all had chances in the first half, but Royals keeper Vito Mannone kept them out.
Within a minute of the restart, though, Mannone was beaten and so were Reading.
Snodgrass was looking to get a shot away, decided against it and fed a pass to Bjarnason instead. A quick look up and the Icelander lifted a shot from 18 yards into Mannone’s top corner.
Snodgrass set-up the second too, his cross in the 63rd minute headed in by Hourihane.
Villa continued to chase goals and, when Mannone messed up a backpass, Hogan made it 3-0 on 70 minutes.
Villa are seven points behind second-placed Cardiff City, with the Welsh team still to come to Villa Park.