Fernando Torres goal may have been offside - Gary Cahill

Gary Cahill admits team-mate Fernando Torres may have been offside when scoring Chelsea's crucial third goal in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Reading.

Torres converted Ashley Cole's cross to put Chelsea 3-2 ahead, with Reading boss Brian McDermott adamant the Spain striker was offside.

"It was maybe slightly [offside] so that went for us," said Cahill.

"But it was fantastic for Fernando," the defender added. "He has two goals now and he is up and running."

McDermott, who confronted the referee's assistant after the final whistle at Stamford Bridge, said he was "gutted" and insisted "the linesman made a mistake".

"He's a clear yard offside," added the Royals manager. "It's just a shame really. I'm disappointed for the players.

"I thought it was a great game. We've come to the European champions and put on a real performance. It shows we deserve to be here."

Premier League newcomers Reading went behind to a Frank Lampard penalty but Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie - courtesy of a mistake by Blues keeper Petr Cech - gave the Royals a surprise lead.

Cahill responded for Chelsea before Torres tapped in to score the goal McDermott insisted should not have been allowed to stand, with Branislav Ivanovic adding a fourth in injury-time.

"We felt there was something for us at 2-2 and we could have got another goal," added McDermott. "I don't feel we deserved to lose the game.

"What you have to do is move on very quickly. We're trying our best to play the best football we possibly can. I told myself when I took this job we'd try and win games."

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo was delighted to see his side go top of the Premier League for the first time since November 2010.

"We are very pleased with six points after two games," he said. "I was very happy with the team performance for long periods of the game.

"We lost a bit our composure after Reading scored the equaliser and second goal, but we'd started off very well and finished off very strongly."