Aston Villa: Player Grades in 2-1 Reading defeat
By Josh Tonti
Aston Villa lost for the second time in four days. A 2-1 defeat in Reading dropped The Claret and Blue into relegation territory of the EFL Championship.
Could this be the last we see of Steve Bruce? It’s very possible following a horrendous display away from home at Reading.
Aston Villa possessed the ball at an 18% clip in the first half. It was arguably the most unappealing match I’ve ever watched of the club. To make matters worse, Scott Hogan was injured twenty minutes and forced off. Gabby Agbonlahor came into his place to partner Josh Onomah (wtf, Steve Bruce?) at the striker position.
Reading thoroughly dominated play all match long; eventually turning off the jets in the second half. The Royals conceded almost nothing of note towards their net, save an Andre Green 1v1 five minutes in. That however, was created through a freak deflection and nothing of a Villa player’s doing.
Eventually, Conor Hourihane scored a consolation goal deep after eight minutes. It was not to be, however, as Villa could not get an equalizer in the last five-odd minutes. Three matches in, one point.
Our Aston Villa player grades:
Aston Villa. SAM JOHNSTONE. 6.5. I guess Johnstone’s our man-of-the-match once more. Made a few nice saves, but not at fault for either of Reading’s goals. He’s probably wondering what he signed up for with another loan at the club.. GK
Aston Villa. RITCHIE DE LAET. 4.5. Ritchie De Laet was a surprise inclusion, starting at right back over Alan Hutton. Directly responsible for Reading’s second half goal after being dispossessed up field. Had to partner Bjarnason on the right, who, once again, was being played out of position.. RB
4.5. Didn’t do Sam Johnstone any favors by taking the angle on Popa’s goal. Two poor matches in a row from James Chester, extremely out of character.. RCB. Aston Villa. JAMES CHESTER
Pretty anonymous. John Terry won a single aerial duel all match, but wasn’t really at fault for either goal, either.. LCB. Aston Villa. JOHN TERRY. 4.5
The left side fared better than the right side today, but don’t take that as Neil Taylor succeeding. He’s still far too absent, thus leaving John Terry pulled out wide. At one point Terry was defending Mo Barrow on the run, in space.. LB. Aston Villa. NEIL TAYLOR. 4.5
4.0. Asked to play out of position once more by the manager. Bjarnason struggled at right midfield.. RM. Aston Villa. BIRKIR BJARNASON
Unimpressive in three straight matches at Aston Villa. Understandable, considering he’s being asked to cover central midfield in a flat 4-4-2 at the age off 33. Glenn Whelan is being asked to fail.. CM. Aston Villa. GLENN WHELAN. 4.0
5.5. Consolation goal from Conor Hourihane! He scored late on, but it was not to be for Aston Villa. The Ireland international sat way too deep in the first half – stagnating the attack. Strange he’s not starting every match.. CM. Aston Villa. CONOR HOURIHANE
5.5. One of the few that weren’t terrible, but Andre Green still showed how raw he is at 19-years young. He was actually fouled a few times, drawing some nice dead ball situations. Arguable foul in the box that wasn’t called. His recovery pace aids Neil Taylor greatly.. LM. Aston Villa. ANDRE GREEN
5.0. Bizarrely, Josh Onomah played striker for the entire 90 minutes. Not sure if it was supposed to be as a number ten, but that’s not how it lined-up all evening. Onomah was ok on the ball, but turned it over a few times. Still better than most of the performances.. ST. Aston Villa. JOSH ONOMAH
3.0. Taken off for another injury with 25 minutes gone. Can’t get a good grade if you can’t stay fit, ever. Injuries are really beginning to hamper this team. Will Keinan Davis or Ross McCormack start at forward next weekend?. ST. Aston Villa. SCOTT HOGAN
Aston Villa go at it again on Saturday against Norwich City.