Chelsea 1 - 0 Reading

Scorers: Ballack(32')

Starting Eleven:
Cech
Ferreira, Alex, Carvalho, A.Cole
Makelele, Ballack, Wright-Phillips
J.Cole, Anelka, Malouda
subs: Cudicini, Ben-Haim, Sidwell, Pizzaro, Bridge

9 wins in a row and the fans are loving Mr.Grant. The same fans who hated Grant because he was not so special like his predecessor and because he couldn't bring out the beautiful football he promised. Or maybe because Roman liked Grant and Roman threw out Mourinho. But with just 2 defeats in his first 30 matches and 9 successive wins now, things are begining to look good in North-West London.

Chelsea outplayed the travelling Royals with a first half goal, a header from German captain Micheal Ballack. Ballack missed the 2 matches last week due to a calf injury. The Chelsea side that walked out onto the field today saw two changes from that which faced Wigan at the weekend. Paulo Ferreira came in to replace Juliano Belletti at right-back while Ballack replaced Sidwell.

The first half belonged entirely to Chelsea. Ballack troubled Hahnemann a few times, and the play was mostly concentrated around the Reading box. A goal always seemed around the corner for the first 30 mins and it was Ballack who broke the deadlock with a header in 32nd minute from a Paulo Ferreira cross. Hunt, who left Chelsea keeper Petr Cech with a fractured skull in the fixture at Reading two years ago, was booed by the home crowd throughout but he was the only Reading player who came near to scoring.

Chelsea started the second half with a Joe Cole cross just missing a sliding Anelka. In the 50th minute Chelsea should have been two in front when the impressive Makelele put Wright-Phillips in the clear for the second time in the game only for Hahnemann to deny the winger once more. Chelsea's dominance continued unabated with Reading on the back foot for long periods, and Chelsea dominated much more after Pizzaro replaced Malouda.Ballack almost grabbed his second of the night when he got his head onto another cross from Ferreira but this time his effort was just too high.

Grant praised Makelele for his efforts and said that the veteran Frenchman is an important part of the team. He also called Anelka 'intellegent' but admitted he would have liked more goals from his team. Coppell blamed his side's defeat on a poor first-half showing that failed to match their lofty opponents. With the undefeated home run extending to 75 matches, like Coppell, I too believe Chelsea will remain undefeated for the rest of the season at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal, Manchester United, bring them on.....