Reading were powerless to resist an brilliant attacking display by Aston Villa who emerged comfortable victors with a margin of 3-1 in their Premier League clash on Saturday.

John Carew opened the scoring for the Villans with a glancing shot in the 22nd minute before Martin Lauren converted from the corner 10 minutes into the second half. Carew added his second of the night two minutes before half time while James Harper pulled one back for the visitors in the final minute of the match.

The visitors had a great chance of taking an early lead when Kevin Doyle turned past Laursen but was unable to hit his shot on target. Aston Villa made them pay for the missed chance by taking the lead in the 22nd minute as Carew rose high to head home Ashley Young's free kick from close range.

Reading pressed ahead in search of an equalizer and though both Doyle and Dave Kitson had chances to pull level, they were unable to hit the back of the net as Villa went into half time with a slender lead.

The hosts started the second half on the attack and after winning a series of corners, took the lead in the 55th minute when Laursen lost his marker before heading home the corner to double the lead. Reading had a great chance to pull one back minutes later but Scott Carson pulled off a great save to deny Kitson's header from close range.

Carew put the game beyond Reading's reach with a third goal in the 88th minute with a simple tap in from Gabriel Agbonlahor's square ball. Reading managed to score a goal in the final minute of the game through James Harper but it was too little too late for the visitors.