It took a relatively tight 20 minutes for the pattern of this game to emerge, but when it did it was the Blues who were in control, and the lead after Shumaira Mheuka slotted us in front one-on-one.

Reading briefly levelled when Kai Crampton was unable to hold Jerae Jones' powerful shot, but Frankie Runham restored our advantage right at the end of the first half, firing in an acrobatic volley from Ollie Harrison's delivery.

The home side wasted a couple of chances to equalise a second time against the run of play, while Mheuka and Donnell McNeilly both hit the woodwork for Chelsea in the second half. But once Reiss Denny had secured breathing space with a low drive we never looked back, and McNeilly added further gloss to the result with a fourth late on.

Taking time to settle

There was an early scare for the Blues, when Genesis Antwi misplaced a pass under pressure playing out from the back, but thankfully the attempted lob on Crampton was off target.

Shaun Wade showed plenty of threat down the left with a couple of promising breaks into the box, but there was always a defender in the right place to block. Then Leo Cardoso and Denny combined well on the edge of the box, but again Reading closed out the space.

The breakthrough did arrive inside the opening 20 minutes, though. It was an assured finish from the schoolboy in the starting line-up, as Mheuka marked his return from three months out injured with the opening goal. It was never in doubt once he was released one-on-one, the striker calmly picking his spot and rolling a finish past the keeper.

Reading tried to hit back, going free of the Chelsea defence themselves, but Kai Crampton was able to get down to his right at full-stretch and turn the shot around the post.

10 minutes after his first, Mheuka was close to adding a second goal. Again he was played in behind, this time by an excellent pass from Saheed Olagunju, but the second time around the keeper was quick off his line to make the save.

Royals hit back

Instead it was Reading who found the net to level the scores, with a goal Chelsea will be disappointed to concede. Jones was allowed to carry the ball into the box in the left channel, and his shot was close to Crampton but struck with power.

When the Blues keeper attempted to hold the ball it ricocheted into the roof of the net. Crampton made amends when Jones got free of our back line on the counter again, this time our stopper getting two strong hands to the shot and pushing it away.

Retaking the lead in style

Reading weren’t level for long, as Runham ensured the Blues went in for the break in the lead. He did it in some style too. It initially looked like the Chelsea attack might have run out of steam when Cardoso found his route to goal blocked and had to turn back.

However, Harrison took the chance to clip a cross to the back post. It was slightly behind the path of Runham, but the forward improvised brilliantly to produce an airborne scissor volley which flew into the bottom corner.

We were almost two ahead right from the kick-off after half-time, as Mheuka went as close as he could to getting his second of the game. It would have been another fine goal, as he drifted past three defenders across the edge of the box before reversing a shot back to the near post, but it came off the inside of the post and bounced across the face of goal before being hacked clear.

That set the tone for the early stages of the half, with the majority of the play taking place at Reading’s end of the pitch. There was a huge let off for the Blues on the hour-mark, though, as a Reading counter ended with Tyler Field hitting a low ball across goal.

One of the Royals’ three trialists met it six yards out, but somehow fired over the bar under no pressure. It was a warning for Chelsea, as since Mheuka had hit the post, it was the home side who had enjoyed the better of the chances, despite our dominance of possession.

No late nerves

It felt like we needed another goal to provide a safety margin, and Denny promptly provided it. The midfielder did well to evade a number of challenges on the right side of the box until he found room for the shot. When he drilled one, the keeper got a hand to it, but it wasn’t enough to prevent it finding the bottom corner.

We could have had more when Donnell McNeilly used his strength to hold off a defender after receiving Harrison Murray-Campbell’s cut-back, but his fierce shot cannoned off the crossbar.

There was still time for McNeilly to get his goal, though, in the last minute of the 90. It came from good play by Ato Ampah and Antwi down the left, the latter feeding our substitute striker in the box with time to slot into the bottom-right corner and make the final score 4-1 to Chelsea.

What it means

The Blues are now four points ahead of second-placed West Ham United in the southern section of the Under-18 Premier League table, with two games in hand and a superior goal difference. That means further victories in our next two matches, or six points in total from our remaining five fixtures, would guarantee us top spot regardless of other results.

What is next

Our Under-18s are back in league action on Saturday, making the short trip across west London to face neighbours Fulham at 11am.

The teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Kai Crampton; Harrison Murray-Campbell, Travis Akomeah (c) (Kaiden Wilson 78), Saheed Olagunju, Genesis Antwi; Reiss Denny (Harrison McMahon 73), Ollie Harrison; Frankie Runham, Leo Cardoso, Shaun Wade (Ato Ampah 62); Shumaira Mheuka (Donnell McNeilly 62)
Unused sub: Jack Austin
Scorers: Mheuka 18, Runham 45, Denny 68, McNeilly 90

Reading (4-2-3-1): Harrison Rhone; Boyd Beacroft, Matt Goulding, Kai Source, Tyler Field; Trialist A (Trialist C 39), William Gutierrez (Verrell George 72); T’Shay Saint-Louis, Luke Howard (Trialist B 64), Jerae Jones (Aaron Nour 64); Joseph Barough
Unused sub: Josh Welland
Scorer: Jones 35
Booked: Source 70, Field 89