LONDON: Olivier Giroud, Kurt Zouma and Christian Pulisic sent Chelsea top of the Premier League on the day that fans returned as the Blues handed Frank Lampard a 3-1 win over Leeds and old rival Marcelo Bielsa.

A maximum of 2,000 fans were allowed in to games largely in the south and Midlands.

Giroud bagged his fifth goal of the week in fully vindicating boss Lampard giving the France hitman his first league start of the campaign.

Zouma then headed home from Mason Mount’s corner as the Blues battled back from ex-Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford’s early opener for Leeds.

At the death Pulisic turned in Timo Werner’s low cross to seal another fine result for the Blues.

Bamford’s eighth league goal in 11 matches had Chelsea – in front of 2,000 fans returning at Stamford Bridge – sweating, but, led ably by the relentless N’Golo Kante, the home side ground out a hugely-impressive victory.

Giroud scored all four goals in Wednesday’s 4-0 Champions League romp in Sevilla, and the 34-year-old rightly stepped up to start against Leeds.

The France striker should have had two goals here too, as Werner somehow contrived to keep Giroud’s header out of the net with not one but two fluffs – from a mere yard out.

This was rival coaches’ Lampard and Bielsa’s first meeting since the ‘spygate’ dramas of the 2018/19 campaign when rancour and recrimination dominated clashes between Derby and Leeds.

Lampard’s Derby got the last laugh in that season’s play-offs, and so the ex-England midfielder got one over on Leeds and Argentinian Bielsa here.

Chelsea’s only frustrations amid a hard-fought win were Werner’s trials in front of goal, and a potential hamstring injury to influential playmaker Hakim Ziyech.

The Blues extended their unbeaten Premier League run to nine matches, having last tasted defeat against Liverpool on September 20.

United hit back

Paul Pogba sparked a second-half fightback which saw Manchester United beat West Ham 3-1 in front of 2,000 fans at the London Stadium.

The Frenchman had been one of several who laboured through the first hour, during which Tomas Soucek put the Hammers ahead, but his precise and curling strike midway through the second-half changed the course of the match.

Minutes later, Mason Greenwood flicked and fired his side into the lead before a more delicate effort from Marcus Rashford put the game beyond doubt, less than a quarter of an hour after West Ham had seemed on course for victory.

The result means United leapfrog West Ham as they move back ahead of rivals Manchester City and up to fourth in the table.

Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne struck early on as Manchester City continued their climb up the Premier League table with a routine 2-0 victory over Fulham.

Pep Guardiola’s side, who thrashed Burnley 5-0 last week, could easily have won by a bigger scoreline on a comfortable afternoon at the Etihad Stadium.

De Bruyne, particularly, was outstanding, not only setting up Sterling’s fifth-minute strike but scoring the second from the penalty spot and then hitting the bar, as well as forcing a good save from Alphonse Areola.

The hosts were rarely threatened and, having been 14th just over a week ago, their campaign is now starting to take shape with a leap into the upper reaches of the table.

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