Superb second half by Royals, as manage to Chelsea hold on.
Chelsea took a 3-0 lead into the break, but Reading showed plenty of fight to score two quick-fire goals but the hosts managed to hold out for the victory.
Reading began brightly, as Harries combined with Eikeland to get in behind and deliver a ball into the box, but Bright was well positioned to head clear.
Chelsea soon replied with a wicked ball sent in by Cuthbert, and Burns had to read it well to punch clear then require Troelsgaard to clear once more.
It was an evenly contested battle in the opening ten minutes, with Reading doing well to keep Chelsea at bay, but also threaten as well. Primmer lined up a shot from range following a cleared corner, but the effort went over.
However, 15 minutes in Chelsea took the lead. A free-kick taken quickly which caught Reading out, and the ball was squared across to Kirby who put the effort beyond Burns. Which replays later showed the ball in-behind was still rolling, and offside.
The first goal Reading felt aggrieved by with yet another controversial decision, but the second 10 minutes later Reading will be disappointed by. After an initial effort rebounded off the post, Evans was caught in the box by Cankovic who fired home.
Reading showed plenty of spirit despite the score, as they attempted to put in a couple of dangerous balls into the box, but Chelsea was able to read the danger and clear. From the latest attack, Chelsea quickly hit on the break, a cross from the right found Cankovic free inside the box who made no mistake with her header to get her second of the game.
The Royals again showed desire to get forward as Harries showed invention to skip behind Charles on the right, and combine with Eikeland to get a ball into the box. Chelsea headed clear only as far as Vanhaevermaet on the edge of the box who got a shot away, and it wasn’t far away from creeping below the crossbar.
Half-time: Chelsea 3 – 0 Reading
The opening ten minutes to the second half struggled to gather any real pace, with most the ball being situated in the middle of the pitch. Cuthbert came closest with an effort just inside the Reading box, but Cooper did brilliantly to dive across and head behind.
With an hour gone, Reading pulled one back. A long ball by Cooper found the run of Harries in-behind, an attempted pull back was cleared by Bright but only as far as Troelsgaard who stayed composed and powered below Berger.
Reading had their tails up, and quickly had another. Harries once again found space down the right and got her cut-back on the money to Eikeland who stretched and turned it in. Game on!
Both sides were giving it everything as we were entered the final quarter of an hour, searching for the decisive goal. Firstly, a corner for Reading looked to be falling kindly for Vanhaevermaet but Chelsea managed to get behind the ball in time, and looked to spring a quick counter. Bright was furthest forward, and looked to find Kerr’s run toward the back post, but the ball was too heavy.
As Chelsea continued to keep hold of the ball in the final five minutes, Reading were waiting for their chance to break. The closest the Royals came was through another long ball played forward, but the Blues backline managed to shuffle across to close off any space.
The final moments saw Chelsea keep the ball in the corner, and see out the game for all three points.
Full-time: Chelsea 3 – 2 Reading
Chelsea: Berger, Bright, Ingle, England (Kerr 69’), Kirby, Perisset, Eriksson, Rytting Kaneryd (Reiten 80’), Charles (Carter 66’), Cuthbert, Cankovic (Fleming 69’)
Unused Subs: Musovic, Nouwen, James, Buchanan, Abdullina
Goals: Kirby (14’), Cankovic (28’, 33’)
Reading: Burns, Bryson (Mukandi 66’) Evans, Eikeland, Wade (Wellings 75’), Harries ©, Cooper, Vanhaevermaet, Woodham, Primmer (Rowe 57’), Troelsgaard
Unused Subs: Moloney, Poulter, Dowie, Hendrix, Caldwell, Jane
Goals: Troelsgaard (60’), Eikeland (61’)
Yellow: Cooper (48’), Bryson (64’)