LONDON - Chelsea hit back in the second half to beat Reading 2-1 on Thursday (NZ time) but English premier league soccer champions Manchester United stumbled to their second successive draw when they were held 1-1 at Portsmouth and had Cristiano Ronaldo sent off.
Manchester City, with theirfirst home goal since January 1, beat Derby County 1-0, Fulham beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1, Wigan Athletic beat Middlesbrough 1-0 and Sunderland snatched a last-minute equaliser to draw 2-2 at Birmingham City.
Reading earned a point from a goalless draw at Old Trafford on Monday (NZT) but on home soil had a real go at Chelsea.
They took the lead on the half hour through Andre Bikey after goalkeeper Petr Cech had failed to gather a high ball but paid a heavy price for missing further chances.
Jose Mourinho made two changes at halftime and it paid immediate dividends as Chelsea equalised through Frank Lampard in the 47th minute and took the lead with a curling effort by Didier Drogba two minutes later.
Carlos Tevez marked his Manchester United debut by setting up Paul Scholes for the opening goal at Fratton Park after 15 minutes.
United produced some lovely football but Portsmouth, who had beaten them in three of their four previous premier league meetings at Fratton Park, stunned the champions with a 53rd-minute equaliser via a Benjani Mwaruwari header.
Portsmouth's Sulley Muntari was sent off in the 83rd minute for a second booking and Ronaldo followed him 2min later after an off-the-ball flare-up.
The winger will miss three games, including Monday's derby against resurgent Manchester City.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's City followed up their impressive opening 2-0 success at West Ham United by beating promoted Derby with a well-taken goal by 19-year-old Michael Johnson.
That 43rd-minute effort brought to an end the longest home top-flight drought since the league was founded in 1888.
