Reading 2 Chelsea 2: Adam Le Fondre nicks two late goals as Royals pinch a point from sloppy Blues

Adam Le Fondre was the pickpocketing chief, scoring two goals in the final three minutes to steal an unlikely draw for the Royals, yet it was the Chelsea defending that was a criminal offence.

The Blues were in control in the game up until the late Le Fondre salvo.

Juan Mata gave the hosts the lead just before half-time.

Fernando Torres, whose only real contribution before the goal was to blaze a couple of half-chances miles wide, flicked through a great ball for Mata to dispatch past Adam Federici.

Reading were being outclassed by the silky Chelsea midfield, who went two goals to the good on 66 minutes.

Frank Lampard was the man to find the net after cleverly steering a Mata corner into the top corner.

But when Le Fondre struck with three minutes remaining after a fantastic pass from fellow substitute Hope Akpan, Chelsea panicked.

They dropped deeper into their own half and with almost the last kick of the game, Le Fondre snatched an extraordinary equaliser.   

It was the second time Chelsea have surrendered a two-goal lead under Benitez, having recently done the same at home to Southampton.

This, among other failings, has led to fans calling for chairman Roman Abramovich to sack the former Liverpool manager.

The hash tag #RafaOut was one of the most popular tweets on social networking site Twitter on Wednesday evening.

But the under-fire interim manager said: “We are progressing in the right way.

“You can see the mentality of the team, they were concentrating and they were working hard. The players like the training sessions and like the things we are trying to do."

Benitez added: “We were controlling the game for 85 minutes, but we made one or two mistakes and we paid for them.

“At this level we need to be more clinical. We have to take responsibility. We win together and we draw together.”