Chelsea 2-0 Fulham: Blues back to winning ways as Claudio Ranieri returns to Stamford Bridge
VAISHALI BHARDWAJ at Stamford Bridge 

Claudio Ranieri's return to Stamford Bridge ended in disappointment on Sunday after his Fulham side were beaten 2-0 by London rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro opened the scoring for the hosts in only the fourth minute before substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek netted a second with eight minutes left to play.

Defeat for Fulham means they remain rock-bottom of the Premier League table - two points off safety.

In contrast, the win keeps Chelsea in third place and two points behind second-placed Liverpool, although that could change with Jurgen Klopp's side and fourth-placed Tottenham in action on Sunday afternoon.

The manner of the loss resulted in the Italian changing his entire outfield line-up for the visit of PAOK Salonika in the Europa League, with one of those changes including Pedro who, despite impressing in the game, was taken off and replaced by Willian - much to the annoyance of the Spaniard.

But that move appeared to be with one eye on the west London derby on Sunday, with Pedro pipping Willian to a starting spot at Stamford Bridge.

And that decision paid off within just five minutes as Pedro received N'Golo Kante's ball, which he won in midfield, before cutting into the area and unleashing a low shot into the corner of the net. 

Fulham looked much improved in terms of their organisation, but continued to cheaply give the ball away, which resulted in Ranieri screaming "Don't leave him!" on the touchline.

They also failed to apply enough intensity to win the ball back whenever out of possession and it meant Chelsea were in cruise control in the first half.

Ranieri responded by taking off Ryan Sessegnon and Stefan Johansen at half-time and his team came out on the attack, with Kepa Arrizabalaga being needed to keep out Calum 

Chambers' header from a corner in the 54th minute before he saw another effort again cleared by the Spanish goalkeeper.

Down the other end of the pitch, Sergio Rico pulled out two saves to deny Pedro and Eden Hazard while substitute Alvaro Morata volleyed over. 

But he couldn't keep out Loftus-Cheek's strike, set up by Hazard, which is his second Premier League goal of the season.

It was enough for Chelsea to secure a comfortable 2-0 win in an otherwise dull London derby game ahead of what will be a congested December for the Blues and, indeed, relegation-battlers Fulham.