---
title: "Villa player ratings: Reading (H)"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2018/08/26/villa-player-ratings-reading-h-3/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Sheldon Muchmore"
section: "Features & Analysis"
published: "2018-08-25T23:11:07Z"
modified: "2018-08-25T23:11:07Z"
---

# Villa player ratings: Reading (H)

Aston Villa kept their unbeaten record intact thanks to a 1-1 draw against Reading, but this will feel like a loss to Steve Bruce’s men.

Villa were much the better side and should have been out of sight before Ahmed Elmohamady opened the scoring in the 51st minute. With 93 minutes on the clock and Villa still leading, it had looked like Villa’s profligacy in front of goal wasn’t going to cost them, but then James Chester went to ground and looked to have made a clean tackle.

![Alex Livesey/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readastonvilla.com/readastonvilla/2018/08/957719598.jpg)

However, unfortunately for Villa, the man with the whistle saw it differently and awarded Reading a penalty, which Sam Baldock duly converted.

Soon after the referee blew his whistle and Villa were left to rue their missed opportunities and two lost points.

Below are our player ratings for yesterday’s match against Reading:

GK: Orjan Nyland – 7.5 – Didn’t really have much to do for the majority of the match, but when he was forced into action he produced a trio of stunning stops to deny Reading.

RB: Axel Tuanzebe – 6.5 – Kept Barrow and Meite quiet for most of the match, but he didn’t get forward as often as we would have liked.

CB: James Chester – 6 – Kept Baldock at arm’s length for most of the match and was unfortunate to see the ref award a penalty against him. However, there was no need for him to go to ground in the first place.

CB: Mile Jedinak – 5.5 – The big Australian just does not look comfortable playing at centre-back, but Bruce insists on playing him there. To be fair, he was dominant in the air, but he made a few mistakes that could have led to a goal.

![Clive Mason/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readastonvilla.com/readastonvilla/2018/08/1021414156.jpg)

LB: Alan Hutton – 6.5 – Linked up well with El Ghazi, kept Aluko and Yiadam pretty quiet, and made a number of attacking runs.

RM: Ahmed Elmohamady – 7 – Defended solidly when he needed to and found himself in the right place at the right time to grab his second goal of the season.

CM: Birkir Bjarnason – 6.5 – The Icelandic international put in a pretty solid display. He did give the ball away cheaply on occasions, but he then did his best to win it back.

CM: John McGinn – 6 – He looked a little jaded today, but he still tried his best to be tenacious. Should have put Villa ahead just one minute into the game.

CM: Jack Grealish – 5 – Grealish struggled to get into the game today and had to go off at half-time with a dead leg.

![Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readastonvilla.com/readastonvilla/2018/08/1003440362.jpg)

LM: Anwar El Ghazi – 8 – This was a very impressive debut. He made a number of direct runs and caused the Reading defence all sorts of problem. Provided the assist for Elmohamady’s goal.

ST: Jonathan Kodjia – 4.5 – Looked disinterested today for some reason. He had a couple of half-chances and blazed over the bar when he should have passed.

SUB: Connor Hourihane – 6 – Came on at half-time for Jack Grealish and produced a steady display.

SUB: Albert Adomah – 6 – Came on in the 67th minute for El Ghazi and looked keen to show that he is still a valuable asset to the team. Went close on a few occasions.