Sam gives Bruce Royals pain

VILLA boss Steve Bruce blamed captain James Chester for the injury-time gaff that cost his stunned side victory.

Ref Darren England looked to have given Reading a controversial gift of a penalty when he ruled that Chester had fouled sub Josh Sims in the third minute of added time. But Bruce got the ref off the hook. “I thought it was a penalty,” said Bruce, who confirmed a season-long loan deal for Everton winger Yannick Bolasie yesterday.

“Chester knows he doesn’t have to give the referee a decision to make. There was no need for him to go to ground. It’s a cardinal sin.

“He usually stays on his feet. He didn’t have to give the referee that temptation.

“It would be easy for me to come out and say, ‘I don’t think it was a penalty’. But I thought it was.”

Sam Baldock slammed the ball in – after being denied 11 minutes earlier by a triple save from Villa keeper Orjan Nyland that threatened to decide the game.

Nyland shrugged off criticism for a couple of mistakes in his first three games for Villa to deflect Baldock’s 82nd-minute shot on to the crossbar. He then pushed the ball away from his goalline and followed up with a save from sub Yakou Meite.

Reading boss Paul Clement admitted he thought his team were doomed when Nyland came up with his miracle.

The Royals are still without a win and second-bottom in the Championship and Clement said: “We have been on the wrong end of some really difficult margins in every game. At one point it looked as if it was going to be another. They were brilliant saves by their goalkeeper. We could have just said ‘That’s it now. If we can’t score that’. But we kept going.

“I haven’t seen a replay of the penalty. When I saw the incident in real time, I thought it was 50-50.”

Villa had taken the lead with a goal made by Dutch winger Anwar El Ghazi, signed on a season’s loan from Lille in the summer.

His Hollywood debut looked like it had been dashed in the 11th minute when his near-post shot was deflected away.

But he made an impact after the break when his cross was headed in by Ahmed Elmohamady.