Chelsea stunned by late Royals comeback

Reading 2 Chelsea 2

Chelsea’s woes continued as substitute Adam Le Fondre scored twice in the final three minutes to snatch a draw for his side.

It meant the Blues surrendered a two-goal lead for the second time under interim manager Rafael Benitez, having recently done so at home to Southampton.

Juan Mata put them ahead with a cracking strike in first-half stoppage time and Frank Lampard’s header from Mata’s corner doubled the lead.

Mata’s opener was a beauty, with the playmaker finishing nicely after being found by a clever chip from Fernando Torres, who again started ahead of Demba Ba.

Chelsea had dominated the first half, with Cesar Azpilicueta heading just wide from a Lampard free-kick and Ashley Cole firing shots over and wide.

Torres was lively early on, twice firing over from just outside the box, but he then faded from the game.

Once in front, the European champions continued to press and seemed in complete control after Lampard struck on 66 minutes.

But Reading striker Le Fondre netted after being set up by Hope Akpan and then fired an equaliser past stand-in Blues keeper Ross Turnbull.

And the home side almost netted a last-second winner when Le Fondre dragged a shot wide from the edge of the six-yard box.

Chelsea: Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole, Mata (Benayoun 77), Ramires, Lampard, Oscar, Bertrand, Torres (Ba 90).
Subs not used: Hilario, Ferreira, Marin, Terry, Ake.

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