Steve Bruce was delighted to get Villa's season back up and running after marking his first victory as Aston Villa manager last night, with a credible 2-1 victory away at Reading.

Jonathan Kodjia gave the Midlands outfit the lead in the first half against the run of play, but Yann Kermorgant levelled for the Royals – nine minutes into the second half.

It seemed that Villa were set for yet another draw, but Reading’s Liam Moore hacked down Jordan Ayew to earn his side a last minute penalty to secure the three points.

The striker made no mistake slotting his spot-kick past Ali Al Habsi to send over 4,000 travelling fans into raptures.

Villa’s first three points since a 3-0 win over Rotherham saw them climb away from the bottom three up to 17th, while Reading dropped to 10th after four games without a win.

Football League World Writer, Ashley Williams identifies the THREE key players from the game....

 

Pierluigi Gollini

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Arguably the Italian goalkeeper’s best performance of the season, he made a couple of important stops in the first half and is growing in confidence every week.

The Italian did well to save McCleary’s penalty and it was unfortunate to see the rebound converted.

Jonathan Kodjia

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This was the display that the Villa fans had been looking for from Kodjia, a man of the match performance as he worked tirelessly for his side and you could not fault his effort.

As well as bagging another goal for his club, he was also effective when defending - winning headers when Villa were defending corners, and tracked back when he was asked to.

The French striker is getting better in every game.

Garath McCleary

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The winger always looked Reading's biggest threat and the man most likely to make something happen.

He was part of every Reading attack, so it was no surprise to see him make the run through the Villa defence before being brought down for the penalty.

Aston Villa and Reading fans.. What did you think of the game last night? Did Villa deserve the win? Whats happened to your form Reading? Let us know in your thoughts and comments below!