Frank Lampard has declared "the season starts here" in a bid to kick-start Chelsea's deepening dogfight for a top-four Premier League finish.

The Blues slipped to a damaging 2-0 loss to Manchester United on Monday night, their fifth Stamford Bridge defeat in the league already this term.

Chelsea could have opened up a nine-point gap on the Red Devils with victory, but instead Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men cut the deficit to just three points on the fourth-placed Blues.

United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed a victory that keeps the Old Trafford men in the top-four running.

"Of course we want to be in the Champions League next year, and we've given ourselves a chance with this result, but we know that we need to improve," said Solskjaer.

"We've just got to get as many points as possible and hopefully get fourth."