Boss rues linesman decision

Brian McDermott says the linesman cost Reading at least a point after allowing Fernando Torres' controversial strike to stand.

The game was delicately poised at 2-2 when Chelsea striker Torres fired home from what appeared to be an offside position and the home side went on to win the game 4-2. The goal was the turning point in the game and McDermott was clearly frustrated as he felt his side had a good chance of leaving Stamford Bridge with a share of the points. "He was a clear yard offside," said McDermott. "We didn't deserve to lose the game. I thought we were going to win it when we got to 70 minutes. I'm gutted the linesman's got that decision wrong. "He was offside and it was not a good night for him. I just said to him he'd got it wrong. "My gut feeling was that it was offside and it was clearly offside. He said he'd have a look at it. That's life. People make mistakes, and he's made a mistake. "It's just a shame it was for such a crucial goal because we would definitely have got a point." Earlier Frank Lampard had given Chelsea the lead but Reading came fighting back and went in front thanks to goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie. Goals from Gary Cahill, Torres and Branislav Ivanovic eventually wrapped up the win to leave McDermott feeling hard done by.