Reading 3 Chelsea 4: Frank Lampard's side outlast Championship Royals in seven-goal pre-season thriller

Mason Mount notched a second-half brace as Chelsea defeated Reading in a high-scoring pre-season friendly clash at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday.

Kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes in Berkshire due to 'congestion on the roads in the vicinity and around the stadium', but the match proved to be more than worth the wait as seven goals in total were scored during a hectic 4-3 win for Frank Lampard's men.

It was a slow start from Chelsea, who earned an early reprieve when Liam Moore's header struck the base of the post after a sweetly delivered corner from Blues academy graduate John Swift.

That let-off proved to be short-lived, however, as Championship outfit Reading took the lead in fine style after 14 minutes.

Danny Loader delivered a pass to fellow youngster Josh Barrett, whose initial drive was blocked by Davide Zappacosta.

However, he took the deflection down on his chest before beating Willy Caballero all ends up with a sumptuous lob.

Chelsea upped the intensity almost immediately, with Christian Pulisic threatening and Tiemoue Bakayoko firing over before Ross Barkley rifled in the equaliser.

The former Everton midfielder stepped up to bend an unstoppable free-kick beyond the despairing dive of goalkeeper Joao Virginia, on loan at Reading from Barkley's former club Everton.

Loader then blasted over before the hosts lost Tyler Blackett to injury six days before their second-tier opener against Sheffield Wednesday.

Replacement Omar Richards would play a key part in Chelsea's second goal, with Kenedy's hopeful long-range effort seeming to take a crucial nick off the left-back before deceiving the wrong-footed Virginia.

Barkley delivered another excellent free-kick that an unmarked Olivier Giroud inexplicably nodded wide at the back post and then performed an eye-catching piece of skill to fool Andy Rinomhota and tee up Kenedy, whose fizzing strike was deflected narrowly wide.

There were no fewer than 20 changes at the interval, which did nothing to disrupt the tempo of the game an actually increased it as the goals and chances came thick and fast.

New Reading centre-back Michael Morrison stole in to tap home just four minutes into his first Madejski appearance after great work from fleet-footed winger Michael Olise, before both Teddy Howe and David Luiz struck the woodwork.

Chelsea hit back through Mount, who drove past Sam Walker after Tammy Abraham seized on a mistake before touching in from point-blank range after the replacement Reading goalkeeper - also formerly on Chelsea's books - struck a woeful clearance straight at Michy Batshuayi.

Luiz should have extended that advantage further and Andrija Novakovich had two chances of his own in quick succession before Baldock slotted past substitute Jamie Cumming after Novakovich and Olise had combined to positive effect.

It is a second win in succession for Chelsea, who ended their tour of Japan with an impressive win over Barcelona.

They face RB Salzburg and Borussia Monchengladbach next before opening their Premier League campaign away at Manchester United on August 11.

Reading, who beat Peterborough United 4-2 last week, have now scored seven times in two matches after initially finding goals hard to come by during their pre-season trip to Spain.

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