Christian Benteke headed in a corner to give Aston Villa just their second home win of the season against Reading.
Reading had the best chance early on as first Brad Guzan stopped Hal Robson-Kanu from point-blank range before Adam le Fondre miscued his overhead attempt on the rebound.
Minutes later Benteke was presented with a simple chance in the area but he didn't get enough power behind his shot as Adam Federici held on.
Villa perhaps should have been ahead in the 27th minute when Benteke pulled back to Andreas Weimann, who leant back on his shot from eight yards and ballooned over.
In the second half there were further chances as both sides wasted opportunities from corners. For Villa Ciaran Clark flashed a free header wide before Le Fondre somehow spooned his header over from inside the six-yard box.
Guzan was on hand to deny Reading soon after when Jason Roberts drove at the Reading defence and squeezed away a low shot that the American cleared away with his foot.
Villa took the lead in the 80th minute when Benteke got up highest to head Ashley Westwood's corner into the turf and past a number of Reading players on the line.
Victory for Paul Lambert's side moves them out of the bottom three while Reading are now four points from safety.
