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The Royals had gone ahead through Andre Bikey after an error from Chelsea 'keeper Petr Cech, and had numerous chances to double their lead, most notably through John Oster, who smashed a shot onto the wookwork.

The introduction of Claudio Pizarro and John Obi Mikel at half-time swung the balance back in Chelsea's favour though, and within two minutes of the restart, Lampard surged through the heart of the reading defence and sidefooted past Marcus Hahnemann.

Drogba grabbed the winner moments later, curling home a precise shot from just outside the area after being teed up by Salomon Kalou.

Steven Sidwell made his first start for Chelsea since moving from Reading last summer, though the Royals showed they didn't miss him, taking the game to Chelsea from the start.

John Oster almost played in Kevin Doyle in just the second minute of the match, before Tal Ben Haim was called upon to make a last-ditch challenge to prevent Oster unleashing a shot moments later.

Chelsea too showed their attacking threat through Shaun Wright Phillips and Florent Malouda on the wings, though a volley onto the post from Drogba in an offside position was the only time Reading genuinely looked threatened.

Just as it seemed Chelsea were beginning to sort themselves out in defence and the battle was moving to the centre of the pitch, an error from Cech presented Bikey with a goal just seconds after replacing the injured Michael Duberry. Ivar Ingimarsson climbed well to meet a long ball and head across goal, and though Cech elected to come and claim, he succeeded only in flattening Ben Haim and Sidwell in front of him, while Bikey tapped the loose ball into an empty net.

Bouyed by the goal, Reading came forward with increasing frequency and danger, while Glen Johnson came on for the injured Ricardo Carvalho. Three minutes later, Kevin Doyle drew a smart stop from Cech after a neat touch from Stephen Hunt, and Oster then smashed a volley onto the post when unmarked at the back post.

Jose Mourinho reacted by withdrawing Steve Sidwell, who was lucky to remain on the pitch after scything down four of his former team-mates, and Paulo Ferreira, and throwing on Mikel and Pizarro. The move worked to perfection, with Mikel operating in a more defensive role in front of the back four, and allowing Lampard the freedom to move forward and lend more of a presence to the Chelsea attack.

On 47 minutes Mourinho reaped his reward as Lampard surged into the area, headed the ball down into his path and finished coolly past the onrushing Hahnemann.

Now with their tails up, Chelsea began to control proceedings much in the same way Reading did in the first half, while the clinical finishing of Drogba ensured they took advantage of their dominance. The Ivorian curled home beautifully from Kalou's pass three minutes later to give Chelsea a lead they fought well to preserve.

Lampard almost doubled the advantage on the hour mark, lashing a shot over the bar from a promising position on the edge of the area, before Doyle failed to adequately work Cech when in an even better position at the other end.

Reading's task was made harder on 72 minutes when Kalifa Cisse was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Pizarro. Only in injury time did they ever really threaten the Chelsea goal again, though as had been the case throughout the first half, wastefulness in front of goal let them down.

Eurosport