LONDON — A late goal by Fernando Torres drove Chelsea to its second successive victory of the new season when it came from behind to beat promoted Reading 4-2 Wednesday. Reading appeared set for its first league victory over the European champion for 82 years when it led 2-1 with 20 minutes left. But England center-half Gary Cahill put Chelsea level with a long-range effort before Torres scored from close in. Branislav Ivanovic added a fourth in injury time to put Chelsea on top of the Premier League after two games. Chelsea dominated possession for the first 25 minutes at Stamford Bridge and Reading was forced into desperate defense to keep out a series of counter-attacks. Juan Mata and Eden Hazard, the close-season signing from Lille, were linking up superbly and the Belgian earned his second penalty in two games after 18 minutes when Chris Gunter took his legs away in the area. Lampard scored from the spot, just as he had early in Chelsea's opening 2-0 win at Wigan Sunday. The game was turned on its head, however, inside the next 10 minutes. First, Reading's Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak got ahead of John Terry to meet a fine cross by Gareth McCleary and send a glancing header into the top corner. Danny Guthrie then smacked a free kick through the Chelsea wall and goalkeeper Petr Cech could only spill the ball into his own net. The Chelsea defense was shaken and a free kick by Ian Harte almost led to a third Reading goal but Alex Pearce headed wide when unmarked. Reading looked comfortable protecting its lead after the break, keeping a close eye on Torres whose industry up front was not matched by his shooting accuracy. Oscar replaced fellow Brazilian midfielder Ramires after an hour but Chelsea continued to struggle for rhythm in a match re-arranged because the home side face Europa League winner Atletico Madrid in the European Supercup in Monaco next week. But Cahill put Chelsea back on level terms when he thumped a 25-yard shot through Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici before Torres scored from an Ashley Cole pass in the 81st minute. Reading threw everything into attack, including goalkeeper Federici, in the dying seconds and Chelsea broke away to leave defender Ivanovic with a simple task to score his second goal in two matches. — Agencies
