Republic of Ireland internationals Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan were both on target for Aston Villa in the Villains 3-0 win over Reading on Tuesday.
Icelandic midfielder Birkir Bjarnason opened the scoring for the hosts just after half-time before Hourihane grabbed his 10th goal of the season shortly after the hour mark.
The Ireland midfielder’s far post header made him the first Villa player since former England international David Platt to score 10 goals from central midfield in a single season.
Stat: @ConorHourihane is the first #avfc central midfielder to score 10 league goals since David Platt (1990-1991) 👏
— villareport (@villareport) April 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/villareport/status/981264136347713536
https://twitter.com/villareport/status/981264420889419778
Hogan, who made his Ireland debut in a 1–0 defeat to Turkey last month, added a third seven minutes after Hourihane found the back of the net as Steve Bruce’s side keep pace with the Championship play-off contenders.
Elsewhere Ireland midfielder Glenn Whelan made his first appearance in nearly a month after returning from a calf injury suffered in the 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Whelan was a second-half replacement for former Ireland U21 midfielder Jack Grealish.
