Birkir Bjarnason was simply superb as Aston Villa got their Championship promotion charge back on track.
Aston Villa fans have taken to Twitter to laud Birkir Bjarnason after the midfielder’s stunning performance during their 3-0 win over Reading that handed Steve Bruce’s men’s slim automatic-promotion hopes a little boost.
The Villans went into the contest off the back of a goalless draw with strugglers Hull City at the weekend and it appeared that it may prove to be a similarly frustrating evening against the team immediately below the Tigers in the Championship table as the game reached the break goalless.
The Royals had been reduced to 10 men during the first-half, but Villa needed to wait until after the interval to break the deadlock. But it was well worth the wait.
Some lovely work from Robert Snodgrass saw the ball roll towards Bjarnason on the edge of the box, and the Iceland international proceeded to curl a sumptuous effort into the back of the net to give the home side the lead. Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan would score within 25 minutes of the opener to make the points safe.
There were a number of superb displays from the Villa players on the night, but perhaps the most impressive performance came from Bjarnason.
It has not been an easy spell for the 29-year-old since his £1.7 million move last year (via Daily Star), but he has turned a corner in recent months and dropping into a holding midfield role appeared to be an inspired decision on Tuesday night.
It looks so inspired that several Villa fans have now insisted that Bruce must continue to use the midfielder there in future as he appears to be a better option than both Mile Jedinak and Glenn Whelan.
Here is the best of the reaction to Bjarnason’s display…
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