Questions asked of Chelsea defence

JOHN TERRY might have relished the home comfort. Back at the stadium in which he is feted as a captain, the player who has come to epitomise the modern Chelsea felt only love from the stands. In light of his trial for allegedly abusing Anton Ferdinand in racist terms, he must develop an even thicker skin than usual for away trips. He received dog’s abuse from Manchester City’s supporters during the Community Shield.

The Champions League homecoming was undermined by a looseness at the back that will have Terry and his colleagues squirming when they are forced to sit through the DVD. Ultimately, there was a deserved victory last night, even if there was fortune about Fernando Torres’s third goal when the assistant referee appeared to err on an offside decision. But Terry and his self-critical colleagues will know that they cannot offer the foundation for a Premier League title challenge on this defensive form.

Much has been made of the new-look Chelsea, a squad studded with fantasy attacking signings and, for the opening chunk of the first-half, it was easy to sit back and enjoy some wonderful football. Juan Mata sparkled, Eden Hazard was tremendous and even Mikel John Obi surged forward. But newly promoted Reading managed to turn the game on its head, with two goals in four minutes. And if it was easy to detect a lack of concentration or a touch of complacency about Chelsea’s defending, the harsher reading pointed towards a vulnerability.

Chelsea’s defending was the basis of their glorious finale to last season but here it was like watching imposters at times. Gary Cahill was a bystander as Pavel Pogrebnyak thumped home the Reading equaliser, and Petr Cech guaranteed himself entrance to the goalkeeping blooper reel after his miscued attempt to hack clear Danny Guthrie’s free kick.

It was not just the goals. Reading counterattacked and they almost staged the grandstand finish while they would have led 3-1 at the interval if Alex Pearce had got more on his free header.

And this was after an opening 25 minutes in which Chelsea had looked so superior that it was possible to fear for Reading. Yet Chelsea were left relieved when Hazard streaked away to provide the clinching fourth goal on the break for Branislav Ivanovich.

The Reading supporters will never forget the richest of first-half seams when they forgot the shadows that they had chased for the opening 25 minutes to fashion an explosive combination punch.

Gareth McCleary caught the eye on the right, just as the thrusting Jobi McAnuff did on the left, and it was one of McCleary’s driven centres that ushered in Pogrebnyak for his headed goal.

Chelsea pushed throughout the second-half yet the unease at the back bubbled when Terry battered an attempted clearance against Ashley Cole and out for a corner. Chelsea could be indebted to the Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici for his bid to out-do Cech in the flapping stakes when he allowed Cahill’s shot to go underneath him and the home crowd went home happy. They will be happier when Terry and Co rediscover their miserliness.