Reading v Aston Villa - as it happened

Preview purloined from our Squad Sheets : Martin O'Neill may still be vexed by the injustice of Aston Villa's Carling Cup final defeat last weekend but the route back to Wembley seems relatively clear. Villa have few injury problems for their trip to Madejski Stadium, where their strew of rapid inside-forwards should prove potent. "They've got good players in wide areas and up the pitch, but it doesn't worry me," said Reading's manager, Brian McDermott. After defeating Liverpool in the fourth round and Sheffield Wednesday 5-0 in midweek, you can see why. Match pointers • Reading have lost seven of their last eight meetings with Aston Villa in all competitions. • This is the ninth successive occasion that Aston Villa have been drawn away from home in an FA Cup sixth-round tie. • Reading have scored a last-minute goal in each of their last three meetings with Villa. • Martin O'Neill has failed to win any of his previous 12 games in the month of March while he has been manager of Villa. • This is the first time that Reading have reached the sixth round of the FA Cup since 1927. Team news we've pulled from the wires: Gabriel Agbonlahor is the only notable absentee from the Aston Villa side for their FA Cup quarter final against Reading at the Madejski Stadium. Agbonlahor was ruled out with a stomach upset so John Carew partners Emile Heskey up front for the first time since August in the only change from last Sunday's Carling Cup defeat to Manchester United. Former Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell is left on the bench. Reading have striker Shane Long back in the side after a four-match suspension as Brian McDermott's men looked to continue their fine Cup run, in which they've eliminated Liverpool, Burnley and West Brom on their way to this afternoon's quarter-final. Reading: Federici, Griffin, Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, Kebe, Tabb, Howard, Sigurdsson, Long, Church. Subs: Hamer, Gunnarsson, Matejovsky, Henry, Robson-Kanu, Rasiak, Pearce. Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Downing, Milner, Petrov, Ashley Young, Carew, Heskey. Subs: Guzan, Luke Young, Sidwell, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Delph, Beye. Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral) Full disclosure dept: I'll make no bones about the fact that I want Reading to win this game, and not just because they're the underdogs. I tipped them, er, confidently in last Thursday's Football Weekly podcast and this match is the last leg in a 22-1 treble I put on yesterday: Man Utd to beat Wolves , Almeria to get a result against Barcelona and Reading to beat Villa. Pre-match niceties: Wearing the usual home kits with which you'd associate them, the teams click-clack their way out of the Madeski Stadium tunnel and ITV cut to an ad-break. Not long now. Nearly there: You'll like this game. Not a lot, but you'll like it: in the second sentence of his commentary, Clive Tyldesley says: "The magic of the FA Cup is alive at the Madeski Stadium." No mentions of that famous night in Barcelona ... thus far. 1 min: Villa kick off, but Shane Long wins the first free-kick of the afternoon on the back of a clumsy James Collins challenge half-way inside the Villa half. 2 min: Gylfi Sigurdsson, arguably the best man to deliver a dead ball in the English League, takes the free-kick. He floats it to towards his Icelandic compatriot, Ivar Ingimarsson, on the edge of the six-yard box. Cuellar heads clear. 3 min: It's been a lively start, with Reading not looking at all over-awed by their Premier League opponents. 4 min: James Milner feeds the ball down the right flank, sending Ashley Young in behind the Villa defence. His cross is put out for a corner that's claimed by Adam Federici in the Reading goal. 5 min: "Martin O'Neill can rest assured that if there's a big decision to be made early on, Mike Dean won't shirk it," writes Gary Naylor. "The red card will be flourished, possibly followed by bows to all four sides of the stadium and a lap of honour." 6 min: In an idle moment, the camera cuts to self-regarding Barnsley "fanatic" (he's been known to attend a match if the Tykes are on television) and sycophantic former chatshow host Michael Parkinson. I'd hazard a guess this means he's been to more Reading than Barnsley games this season. 8 min: Reading win their first corner of the match, courtesy of Richard Dunne. Ivar Ingamarsson and Matt Mills lumber forward. 9 min: From the corner, Reading get the ball into the Villa goal, but it won't count because of a shove by Simon Church on Stephen Warnock. The ball was floated in to the back post, nodded across the face of goal and dropped kindly for Jay Tabb, who didn't connect with a right-foot volley. The ball was half-cleared as far as Jimmy Kebe, who smashed it into the roof of the net. His celebrations were curtailed because of his team-mate's push on Warnock. 11 min: A three-on-three Reading counter-attack comes unstuck when Jimmy Kebe tries and fails to pick out Shane Long with a through-ball, when Simon Church was the better option. Reading could have scored there if Kebe had played the ball to his left instead of his right. 14 min: Reading win a throw-in deep in Villa territory. Andy Griffin takes it, picks up the return pass and sends the ball into the box. It's cleared by Villa, but Stiliyan Petrov puts the ball out for another Reading throw-in. 15 min: "Are Reading really underdogs?" asks Robin Hazlehurst. "I thought the whole point of Villa was that they are always underdogs even when they play minnows. Their whole attractiveness to neutrals is that they are always the bridesmaid and the plucky loser, never quite making it to, er, fourth. I didn't think anyone else could ever actually be an underdog against them." 17 min: Kebe and Long combine down the right-hand side, but their good work is undone by Richard Dunne. 18 min: Reading attack down the left flank, where Simon Church wins a throw-in off Carlos Cuellar. 19 min: That's a great interception from Matthew Mills, who stretches to hook a marvellous Ashley Young cross out of the path of John Carew, sending the ball looping up in the air and into the arms of Adam Federici. If he'd failed to make contact there, Carew would have almost certainly scored from just four yards out with only the goalkeeper to beat ... wouldn't he? 20 min: Stiliyan Petrov tries a shot from distance, but his wild slash fizzes high, right and wide. 21 min: Another corner for Reading, who are giving this a right good rattle. Sigurdsson arrows the ball towards the head of centre-half Matthew Mills, but his delivery is fractionally too high and drifts over towards the far touchline, from where Villa clear. 23 min: Ashley Young crosses from the right again. Jimmy Kebe beats Stewart Downing in the air and puts the ball oiut for a corner, from which the ball drops for James Milner on the edge of the penalty area. He shoots hopelessly wide. 24 min: Richard Dunne gets booked for jumping into the path of Jimmy Kebe as he chased the ball through the centre. Free-kick for Reading about 35 yards out, right of centre. 25 min: Brian Howard curls the ball into the mixer and with Brad Friedel flapping hopelessly, there's an impromptu game of head tennis in the Villa penalty area. With Villa in a total panic, the ball is eventually put out for a corner ... then another one. GOAL! Reading 1-0 Aston Villa (Long 26) Sigurdsson floats in a marvellous corner, Matt Mills gets highest to skim a header towards Shane Long at the far post and the Irishman nods home from about three yards out. There were five defenders surrounding him when the corner came in and he still managed to score. That's no more than Reading deserve - they've been the better team by far. 28 min: From a free-kick about 40 yards from goal, Reading's defenders move forward as one as the ball is dinked to John Carew, who rifles it home. The goal is ruled out because the Norwegian was deemed to have been offside. I don't think he was, but ITV commetary team Clive Tyldesley and Kevin Gallagher think it was the correct decision. 31 min: Gylfi Sigurdsson misses a great chance to put Reading 2-0 up, when Richard Dunne throws himself in front of his pile-driver from about 15 yards. Great defending. 34 min: Villa embark on one of their increasingly rare sorties into Reading territory - they're looking very leg-weary and sluggish. The ball's crossed in from the right by Stewart Downing, who's switched wings with Ashley Young, but Adam Federici gathers. 36 min: "Unlike you, I want Reading to lose because in November 1981, Brian McDermott scored the only goal at Highbury in a dire 1-0 defeat for Everton, that was my misfortune to witness," writes Naylor. "Not that I'm one to hold a grudge or anything." 37 min: An interesting stat from our friends at Opta: Aston Villa have never won a game in March (D5 L7) with Martin O'Neill as manager. They're not really our friends, to be honest. We wouldn't have them around to the house and have never even met them for post-work drinks. 39 min: Ashley Young gets booked for continuous dissent, with Mike Dean explaining to him that it's the third time he's had his ear burned by the Villa winger and he's sick of it. One decent cross aside, Young's been woeful in this half, consistently failing to beat the first man with his attempted crosses. 40 min: Emile Heskey has to go off for treatment when Matt Mills shows him how the other half live with an accidental elbow in the face. Replays show it was a genuine accident, although Arsenal fans would probably tell you otherwise if it happened to one of their players. GOAL! Reading 2-0 Aston Villa (Long 41) That's a great goal on the counter-attack. Kebe chases a marvellous Sigurdsson through-ball down the right flank, then cuts out two of the three covering defenders by cutting the ball back to Shane Long, who calmly slots itl past Friedel from about 14 yards out. 44 min: I would not like to be an Aston Villa player going in to face Martin O'Neill in the dressing room at half-time. With the possible exception of Richard Dunne and Carlos Cuellar, they've been hopeless. There's no desire or commitment on show - either they're in a collective post Carling Cup final defeat sulk or they just don't care about getting knocked out of the FA Cup. They're not trying a leg and thoroughly deserve to be 2-0 down. Their fans deserve better. 45+2 min: Despite being 2-0 up, Reading are continuing to take the game to Aston Villa. The half ends with them camped deep in opposition territory. It's half-time, Reading lead 2-0 and Villa have been a disgrace. Half-time 46 min: Reading get the second half underway. They're 18th in the Championship table, but only one point off the relegation zone. I find that incomprehensible, because any time I've seen them play this season, albeit in FA Cup matches, they've been excellent. That said, they're mining a rich vein of form under Brian McDermott at the moment and should avoid the drop comfortably. GOAL! Reading 2-1 Aston Villa (Young 47) A comedy of defensive errors enables Villa to get back in the game 70 seconds after the restart. Stewart Downing sent in a low cross from the left, John Carew helped the ball on towards Carlos Cueller, whose miskick found Ashley Young at the far post. He smashes the ball past Federici from about four yards out. 49 min: Martin O'Neill must have really launched a rocket up the collective Villa nether regions. They're tearing into Reading. From the right channel, Ashley Young dinks a cross towards John Carew at the far post and it takes a marvellous defensive header from Matt Mills, facing his own goal, to prevent the ball reaching its towering destination. Corner for Villa - Mills will be delighted not to have put the ball into his own net. GOAL! Reading 2-2 Aston Villa (Carew 51) It's all square! From the right flank, Stewart Downing sends a cross into the Reading penalty area, where John Carew leaps above Matt Mills to head past Federici. That's Martin O'Neill, for all your motivational speaking needs. 53 min: Villa go close again, with Carew heading straight into the hands of Federici. If the Norwegian had left the ball, it would have fallen to the unmarked Stewart Downing, who was loitering behind him all alone in the Reading penalty area. 55 min: Moments before Villa's second goal, John Carew had an excellent chance when the ball dropped kindly for him from a corner and he tried to side-foot home from about eight yards but missed the ball completely. GOAL! Reading 2-3 Aston Villa (Carew 57) What a sensational turnaround - Villa are unrecognisable from the rabble that traipsed from the field for their half-time bollocking. On the left wing, Ashley Young feeds Stephen Warnock on the overlap, the full-back crosses and John Carew flicks home with aplomb from eight yards. 60 min: Reading substitution: Brynjar Gunnarsson on, Brian Howard off. Reading are like a punch-drunk boxer at the moment - they've been torn apart in the past 15 minutes and hardly had a kick of the ball. 61 min: "Am watching the match live on some dodgy Hungarian stream, and praying for the Royals to hold on for the 2nd half," writes Matt Fried in Sydney, who sent his email 15 minutes ago. "I stupidly promised my dad that i would fly over to London for the weekend if Reading made it to Wembley, as he's a long suffering Royals fan (originally from Reading, within view of Elm Park), and has conveniently got a holiday to Europe booked during April. Looks like i should have taken up your suggestion and put some money on them." Don't worry Matt, I think you might dodge that particular bullet. 63 min: James Milner wins a corner off Simon Church. Downing sends the ball into the mixer and Villa's fans, congregated behind the Reading goal, appeal as one for handball when the ball bounces up into Gunnarsson's bread-basket. No penalty is forthcoming and Reading clear. 65 min: Reading earn some much-needed respite when Stiliyan Petrov fouls Shane Long on the edge of the final third. From the ensuing free-kick, the ball goes out for a Villa throw-in, deep in their own territory down near the corner flag. 68 min: Emile Heskey is put through one-on-one against Adam Federici, but the goalkeeper does well to stay on his feet and make himself big. From eight yards out and with only the goalkeeper to beat, Heskey finishes with the kind of finesse you'd expect, firing straight at the man in yellow. 70 min: Corner for Reading. Another wonderful delivery from Sigurdsson is headed goalwards by - I think - Mills, forcing Ashley Young to make a headed goal-line clearance at the far post. 71 min: Reading substitute: Simon Church off, Grzegorz Rasiak on. With his first touch, the Reading striker stings Brad Friedel's palms with a stinger from distance. With his second he forces Emile Heskey to block. Bit by bit, Reading are dragging themselves back into this contest. 74 min: Another corner for Reading, another superb cross from Sigurdsson - his dead ball delivery is sensationally good. He whips the ball into the far post, Villa fail to clear and the ball drops for Jimmy Kebe, whose volley is blocked. A game of penalty area pinball ensues until the pressure on Villa is eased by a Jay Tabb foul that earns the Reading midfielder a yellow card. 75 min: This is an amazing football match. Having looked dead and buried, Aston Villa came from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead, at which point it looked like Reading might lose by six or seven. But hats off to the home side, they've recovered from the 20-minute onslaught at the start of second half and now have Villa under siege again. 78 min: Standing about 30 yards out, left of centre, Jay Tabb swivels on one foot and tries his luck with a diagonal volley. The ball whistles high and wide of the right post, but not so high and wide that it doesn't earn Tabb a generous round of applause from the home fans. 80 min: "Like yourself I had good money on Reading for this match, just on a gut feeling that they were completely underestimated in the odds for a home team in good form," writes Nick Marchant. "However that same bloody gut was also telling me that Villa were going to come out strong after half time. It was 12-1 for a Villa win at two-nil, and 4-1 at two-one. Shows how unreliable the gut can be on a Sunday morning. Ah anyway, just going outside to drop some more money down the drain." 81 min: Gylfi Sigurdsson tries a shot from distance, but his effort is blocked on the edge of the D outside the Villa penalty area. 82 min: Villa attack down the right flank, courtesy of Ashley Young, who wins a corner off Ingimarsson when his attempt to nutmeg the Villa defender goes awry. From the corner, Reading break up the field. James Milner cynically brings down Jimmy Kebe and earns himself a yellow card in the process. 83 min: Milner's foul earns Reading a free-kick about 40 yards out. Once again, Sigurdsson's delivery is sublime and he flats the ball into the corridor of uncertainty on the edge of the six-yard box. Brad Friedel doesn't knopw whether to stick or twist, but decides to stay rooted to his line. His decision was the correct one - Rasiak rises unchallenged by anyone in a Villa shirt and his powerful header is parried clear. 88 min: Just two minutes plus extras to come - can late-goal specialists Reading pull something out of the bag again? Rasiak stretches out a leg to try and poke the ball past Friedel, but it's this much out of his reach. 89 min: Reading are throwing the kitchen sink at Villa, but the visitors' defence is stout. There'll be four minutes of added time. 90+1 min: Ivar Ingimarsson trips John Carew in the Reading box and concedes a penalty, with Mike Dean pointing straight at the spot. It's a fair cop - the foul was needless, as the Villa forward was merely holding up the ball with his back to goal and going nowhere. GOAL! Reading 2-4 Aston Villa (Carew 90) Carew rifles the ball into the top left-hand corner to seal his hat-trick and cap a remarkable second-half turnaround for Aston Villa. 90+4 min: Reading win a corner and Adam Federici, who scored a goal last season, comes forward. The ball's swung into the mixer, but Villa clear. I feel a bit sorry for Reading as I'm not sure what exactly they or any other team could have done to counter the astonishing Villa onslaught early in the second half. Peep! Peep! Peep! It's all over - Aston Villa go through to the FA Cup semi-finals and Reading go out with - I would imagine - their heads held fairly high. Their fans can be very proud of the way their team performed today in the face of an astonishing second-half comeback. I don't think I've ever seen Villa players trying that hard, or playing that well, before.