Avram Grant may dress like an undertaker, but the manner in which he has breathed fresh life into Chelsea’s title challenge suggests that he could easily retrain as a paramedic.

Grant’s team continued their dogged pursuit of Manchester United and Arsenal with a ninth successive victory in all competitions that equals the club record. Michael Ballack’s first-half header was all that separated the teams on the scoresheet, although in terms of ability the gap was wider than the grandest of canyons. Much mystery surrounds how a relatively unknown man such as Grant has moulded a star-studded squad into a formidable fighting unit that has won 23 of his 30 matches in charge, although the answer may be straightforward after all.

His players are simply playing better. Of last night’s starting XI, Alex, Wayne Bridge, Claude Makelele, Ballack, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole are performing at a far higher level than they were under José Mourinho at the start of the season, while Petr Cech and Ricardo Carvalho have maintained their customary excellence. Nicolas Anelka has just arrived, so only Paulo Ferreira remains utterly average. While everyone — including the plodding Portugal player — contributed, this win was crafted by the classy midfield triumvirate of Makelele, Ballack and Wright-Phillips, whose impressive performances over the past few weeks deserve to be rewarded today by a place in Fabio Capello’s first England squad.

Wright-Phillips needs to improve his finishing, as was demonstrated when he was twice denied when one-on-one with Marcus Hahnemann, but the increased confidence with which he is carrying and passing the ball suggests that sharper shooting is within his compass. Makelele’s enduring quality is less of a surprise, but the France player has appeared revitalised in recent weeks, particularly in possession, while Ballack’s powerful header was a carbon copy of many of the goals he scored for Bayern Munich, but were conspicuous by their absence during his troubled first season at Chelsea.

The 31-year-old leapt like a younger man above Stephen Hunt to meet Ferreira’s cross for his fifth goal of the season, which left Grant purring, although whether the convalescing Frank Lampard enjoyed the exquisite execution remains to be seen. “I’ve known Ballack a long time and didn’t think he was as bad last season as everyone said,” Grant said. “He’s a very modern player. He gets into the box, scores goals and makes assists.

“I told Makelele at the beginning [of Grant’s tenure] that I would not use him all the time, but only when I need him. I think he becomes younger every match. Whenever the team need him he’s there.”

With Chelsea unbeaten in 75 home league matches stretching back almost four years, Reading had travelled in hope rather than expectation and their plans were further disrupted shortly before kick-off when Dave Kitson was ruled out with a flu bug, an untimely setback given that he is known to feature in Capello’s thoughts. Given such problems, Reading did well to start brightly, with Leroy Lita bringing a good save from Cech in the second minute, but Chelsea soon assumed control. Makelele continued the imperious form that has resulted in him making five successive starts since returning from an ear operation, to give the home team dominance of midfield that Wright-Phillips and Ballack set about exploiting.

Wright-Phillips has been a revelation since being moved to a central role, with his pace and energy helping to disguise his erratic delivery and Hunt and James Harper were unable to keep up with him. The England midfield player won a free kick with an electric run from which Ballack almost scored and played in Anelka before the Germany captain finally opened the scoring.

Chelsea will need to develop more ruthlessness than they displayed in a lacklustre second half to maintain their challenge, but Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, believes that they could push United and Arsenal all the way. “At the moment they’re grinding out results rather than playing calypso football, but as long as they keep winning there’ll be no complaints,” Coppell said. “With the players they’ve got to come back from the African Nations Cup, it’s all to play for. Chelsea have a lot to do, but they’re capable of doing it. You could see them going the rest of the season unbeaten.”

And to think that when Grant was appointed first-team coach Chelsea were presumed to be dead and buried.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech – P Ferreira, Alex, R Carvalho, W Bridge – C Makelele – J Cole, S Wright-Phillips (sub: S Sidwell, 86min), M Ballack, F Malouda (sub: C Pizarro, 76) – N Anelka. Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, S Sinclair, T Ben Haim.

Reading (4-4-2): M Hahnemann – G Murty, I Ingimarsson, K Cissé, N Shorey – J Oster (sub: M Matejovsky, 81), S Hunt, J Harper, R Convey (sub: L Rosenior, 86) – L Lita, K Doyle. Substitutes not used: A Federici, U De La Cruz, A Bennett.

Referee: M Dean.