JOSEPH Mendes stole the show with a stunning brace on his first ever Championship start as Reading FC bounced back from a brutal defeat at Norwich to overcome Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park.

Mendes opened the scoring on six minutes before his strike was cancelled out by Villa captain James Chester following a blunder by stopper Ali Al-Habsi.

But the Frenchman struck again just seconds into the second-half before a late penalty by loanee Lewis Grabban sealed all three points at Villa Park for the first time in Royals’ history as they retained their status as play-off contenders.

The win kept Reading in fourth place, six points clear of seventh placed Fulham with just four league games remaining.

Jaap Stam made three changes to the side which was crushed at the hands of Norwich City FC last week.

Mendes, Adrian Popa and Danny Williams all came in to the starting line-up while in-form striker Yann Kermorgant and winger Garath McCleary were dropped to the bench.

The first opportunity of the game fell to young midfielder Liam Kelly after the Royals launched a dangerous counter-attack from a Villa corner.

Kelly was clean through on goal but opted to strike the ball from some 40 yards out however his effort sailed harmlessly wide of the Villa goal.

But it was Joseph Mendes who got Reading underway when he was released by loanee Lewis Grabban with six minutes minutes played.

The French forward took a fine touch before firing the ball past Sam Johnston, netting his first Championship goal and sending the travelling supporters into raptures.

Royals’ stopper Al-Habsi pulled off a sensational save to deny Villa’s Jedinak after a cleared header fell to the Australian international’s feet. The midfielder struck the ball low and to the goalkeeper’s right-hand-side, forcing a fine stop.

But Villa levelled the scoreline from the resulting corner as the Omani stopped tried to come out and collect the corner and missed, allowing Chester to head Conor Hourihane’s delivery into an empty net on 14 minutes.

Mendes had an opportunity to double his tally for the afternoon after he received the ball from John Swift on the edge of the area. Mendes should have struck the ball first-time but instead opted to take a touch before being tackled.

A training ground routine corner fell to John Swift on the edge of Villa’s box with 26 minutes played, the young midfielder launched a fierce strike on goal but it was well parried by former Manchester United stopper Johnstone.

A scrappy few minutes then saw both sets of players launching long balls to the front-men rather than passing their way up the pitch.

Mendes was handed a gilt-edged opportunity to restore Reading’s lead when Lewis Grabban was released down the wing with 30 minutes played.

Grabban’s cross fell straight to the striker’s feet but Mendes got his foot underneath the ball and ballooned his effort over the crossbar.

A telling cross from the right very nearly fell on the head of Leandro Bacuna for the hosts, he lost his marker but the ball was just too high, fortunately for the Royals’ defence.

Villa were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position after Liam Moore’s crunching tackle on striker Kodjia with the clock running down in the first-half.

Hourihane delivered the ball into the box but Chris Gunter, who was deployed as a makeshift centre-back at Villa park, cleared well.

Lewis Grabban then seized on a mishap at the back from the home-side, he connected well with the shot but it rolled into Johnston’s arms, allowing the first-half to end at 1-1.

The Royals came flying out of the blocks in the second-half and Mendes doubled his tally within just seconds of the restart.

It was another fine run and delivery from Grabban down the right and this time Mendes kept his cool and tucked the ball past the helpless Johnston to give Reading the lead.

Villa were handed a controversial corner when Alan Hutton appeared to knock the ball into touch for what should have been a Reading goal-kick.

Another fine delivery found an unmarked Kodjia in the box but Villa’s top-scorer could only guide his header over Al-Habsi’s crossbar on 49 minutes.

Lewis Grabban should have made it 3-1 just seconds later when he was found by a fine Jordon Obita cross but he was well denied by Johnstone.

Villa fans were incensed when they felt the ball was handled in the box but referee Scott Duncan waved away their protests and allowed Reading to break.

Garath McCleary then charged towards the Villa goal and pulled the ball back to Danny Williams but the USA international’s effort was well blocked.

Joseph Mendes was given a standing ovation by the Royals’ following as he made way to be replaced by top-scorer Yann Kermorgant on 68 minutes.

Kermorgant made an immediate impact when he found John Swift on the edge of the penalty area. Swift tried a bit of trickery before his strike was deflected harmlessly away from goal.

35-year-old Kermorgant then dinked a fabulous ball over the top of the Villa defence for Kelly to run onto before he was pulled down by Bacuna. The referee made no hesitation as he pointed straight to the spot and awarded the Royals a penalty on 79 minutes.

Lewis Grabban made no mistake from the resulting spot-kick to seal his first league goal for more than two years, handing Reading a glorious opportunity to head back to Berkshire with all three points.

The Royals should have been awarded a second penalty for what appeared to be a blatant handball in the box by a Villa defender, but nothing was given.

Some neat passing from the Royals helped them retain their two-goal cushion and take all three points back to Berkshire.

Reading face Rotherham United at Madejski Stadium on Monday (3pm ko).

Reading FC: Al-Habsi, Gunter (c), Moore, Blackett, Obita, Swift, Williams, Kelly (Evans, 86), Popa (McCleary, 64), Mendes (Kermorgant 68), Grabban.

Subs not used: Jaakkola, Evans, Meite, Ilori, Mutch.

Aston Villa: Johnston, Chester, Baker (Grealish,75), Amavi (Hogan,61), Hourihane, Jedinak, Lasbury, Bacuna, Kodjia, Adomha.

Subs not used: Sarkic, Bree, Richards, Elphick, Gardner. 

Reading bookings: Williams, Obita.

Villa bookings: Bacuna.

Referee: Scott Duncan.

Attendance: 30,742