Chelsea soft at the back

PICTURE: AP

Two games, two wins and Chelsea lead the way in the English Premier League, but this was not a comfortable night for the Stamford Bridge faithful.

Despite dominating newly-promoted Reading for 25 minutes and threatening a thrashing, Roberto Di Matteo’s side conceded two quickfire goals and were forced to chase the game right up until the dying stages of the 4-2 win yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Russian owner Roman Abramovich, after a summer of heavy investment, would be concerned at how quickly a routine encounter slipped out of control, morphing from almost total domination into a nervous and entirely uninspiring display.

Having invested so heavily in his front line, Abramovich will have been mortified to see his rearguard creaking under a newly promoted team’s attacks.

Eden Hazard and Juan Matta are among of the few bright spots, while questions will be asked of Fernando Torres, scorer of the debatable third Chelsea goal.