BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) - Norwegian John Carew scored a brace while Denmark's Martin Laursen also got his name on the scoresheet as Aston Villa dominated Reading 3-1 at Villa Park on Saturday.

Villa's Stiliyan Petrov came close to opening the scoring after ten minutes when he latched onto a poorly-cleared corner by Reading to fire goalbound, but an alert Marcus Hahnemann palmed away to safety.

However the home side's early domination finally paid off after 22 minutes when former Lyon forward Carew used his height to rise and head home Ashley Young's cross from six yards, giving Hahnemann no chance.

Steve Coppell's Reading upped their game in a bid to pull level, before heading into the changing rooms but muted efforts from Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt and Dave Kitson left the visitors empty handed.

The Villans piled on the pressure after the break with Gabriel Agbonlahor always a threat with his piercing runs behind the Royals' defence.

But the second goal came from Villa's Denmark international Laursen just ten minutes after the restart.

The 30-year-old centre back produced a fine header from a Young corner to beat Hahnemann and double the scorline.

Carew put the game well and truly beyond the visitors' grasp when he calmly slotted home three minutes from time from Angbonlahor's decisive square ball across goal.

James Harper saved face for the visitors after latching onto a pass from Shane Long and firing past Scott Carson for the consolation.