Stam: Everybody Is Disappointed With Reading FC's Loss To Aston Villa

As soon as I had heard that Aston Villa hadn't won away from home in 14 months, I knew that it wasn't going to be the evening that Reading fans had hoping for, and I was correct!

Villa took the lead in the first half before the Royals won a penalty in the second half. Danny Williams stepped up, but his effort was saved, before Yann Kermorgant headed in the rebound. Villa got a penalty in the 90th minute after Liam Moore fouled Jordan Ayew and he stepped up to secure all three points for the visitors.

It's fair to say that manager Jaap Stam was frustrated after the game, he told the Official Club Website: "We started a little bit restlessly. They didn't create any clear cut chances though and we started to control the game.

"We weren't creating loads of chances ourselves, but if you play against a team who put eleven men dropping in front of their own box, it's very difficult to create chances.

"You need to be patient - and you saw they got fed up with running and chasing the ball in the second half. They tried to press us a bit higher as a result, spaces opened up and we won the penalty and scored the goal... by playing the ball and finding the right players at the right time in between the lines."

Reading were in control and looked more likely to grab all three points, until Villa's late penalty, Stam added: "At 1-1, you want to create more chances - and we had a couple of good runs from Danny WIlliams and Garath McCleary which almost opened them up and got us in behind.

"They got a couple of chances on the break, but the players worked very hard, put a lot of effort into it.... they wanted a result, we always want a result.

"We posed a threat throughout, but you need to take into consideration that you're playing against a good side - and you can't afford to give a team like Villa any space with the quality and pace they have.

"We knew they would be dangerous and then the referee in the last minute, gives a penalty and you lose a game, which is sad. Everybody is very disappointed with the result.

"It's a harsh moment because especially at the end of the game, a striker is always looking for that little bit of contact and he goes down. There's always contact in the game from corner kicks and free kicks, but at the end the referee has pointed for a penalty."

With our unbeaten home streak ending, the Royals can look to get back into good form on Saturday when they face Rotherham at the New York Stadium.