Villa have kept their dream of Champions League football alive with a 2-1 victory over struggling Reading at Madejski Stadium on Sunday. Victory was achieved through goals from Ashley Young (45) and Marlon Harewood (84), who again came on late into the match and made an impact from the bench. In the 32nd minute Cisse handled a shot from Gardner and Villa were awarded a penalty. Uncharacteristically, Barry blazed wide from the spot but fortunately it had no impact on the final result. Shorey scored a consolation goal from a well taken free kick for Reading in what turned out to be the final kick of the match.
Martin O’Neill told www.avfc.co.uk: “We were great. I felt that even allowing for the penalty miss there were goals in us today. We looked a constant threat and we’ve got some players at the top of their form.”
“It was delightful and we deserved to win the game, yet interestingly had Marlon’s goal not gone in, we might have been hanging on.”
“I think Ashley’s goal just before half-time gave us a deserved lead and compensated somewhat for the penalty miss. All day I thought we were a real handful going forward.”
“I thought our play at times was really excellent. It was difficult to fault anybody, especially in the second-half when we were very, very strong indeed.”
The Villa boss continued: “The build-up to Ashley’s goal was exceptional – and not a set-piece in sight!”
“It was great from Martin and Curtis dealing with a difficult ball. There was a delightful little bit of interplay between Nigel and Gareth. Gareth got it wide and we then got a wee bit of luck as the Reading player sold himself a little bit and allowed Gabby to come in to find Ashley.”
“Having said all of that, Ashley still has to put the ball in the net. He had to control it and as the goalkeeper came off his line, he had to direct it into the net. It was a brilliant goal.”
“Half-time came along and it was still precarious. In the second-half we created enough chances to have finished the game, but I always worried about it.”
“Then the second goal came along. Marlon’s impact has just been fantastic and the crowd have really taken to him – he’s taken to them too and we’re running short of shirts because he keeps throwing them into the crowd!”
