Frank Lampard’s first game in charge of Chelsea ended in humiliating defeat as his side were hammered 4-0 by Manchester United.
For an hour at least, it was a far more even contest than the scoreline suggested, but United were ruthless, with Marcus Rashford scoring either side of Anthony Martial’s close range finish, before Daniel James marked his debut with a goal off the bench.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave debuts to his two big money defensive signings, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire, with Anthony Martial deployed at centre forward.
Lampard left his only summer addition, Christian Pulisic, on the bench, putting his faith in the young English trio of Mason Mount, Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham.
It was Chelsea who started the better, settling quickly, and nearly taking the lead inside five minutes when Tammy Abraham cannoned off the upright.
Kurt Zouma began what would be a torrid half by gifting Martial a glorious opening with a stray pass on the edge of his own box, but the Frenchman scuffed straight at David De Gea.
There was no such reprieve for the Chelsea centre-half soon after, however, when he was guilty of the clumsiest of tackles on Rashford, and Anthony Taylor had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Rashford dusted himself down to belt a terrific spot kick into the top corner, and, after taking the lead against the run of play, suddenly it was United that were on top.
In an open affair, Chelsea still had chances on the break, and Ross Barkley forced De Gea into a smart save with his feet before Emerson rattle the crossbar from close range.
It was a slight surprise that Pulisic was not included from the start after an impressive preseason, but he was sent on in place of Barkley shortly before the hour mark. Before he could make a proper impact, however, the game was dead and buried as United scored twice in two minutes to seal the points.
First, Maguire won the ball on the edge of his own box to start a break that ended in Andreas Pereira crossing for Martial to bundle home from close range.
Then, seconds after the restart, Paul Pogba clipped over the top and Marcus Rashford beat the offside trap and a sleeping Chelsea backline to slot away his second and United’s third.
Lampard sent on Kante to try and contain the growing United threat on the break, but even his powers of recovery could do little about United’s fourth as Pogba fed substitute James to fizz home a fourth via a deflection.
