Fabregas seals win for Chelsea on thrilling Stamford Bridge return for Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard's return to Chelsea ended in bitter disappointment after his Derby side were narrowly beaten 3-2 by the Blues at Stamford Bridge.

All five goals of the League Cup fourth-round tie were scored in a frantic first half which saw Derby pair Fikayo Tomori and captain Richard Keogh score own goals either side of Jack Marriott's superb low strike for the visitors.

With Chelsea leading 2-1, Martyn Waghorn restored parity with a seemingly offside strike but Cesc Fabregas fired in the winning goal in the 40th minute to send Chelsea into the next round of the Carabao Cup and keep intact the hosts' unbeaten start to the season.

AS IT HAPPENED: Chelsea 3 Derby 2

READ MORE: Arsenal to face Tottenham in Carabao Cup quarter finals

Many Chelsea fans had posed the question pre-game whether the club's decision to allow on-loan players Tomori and Mason Mount to play against them on Halloween could come back to haunt the Blues.

But it actually worked in the hosts' favour after Tomori unwittingly scored the opener in just the fifth minute after he failed to clear Davide Zappacosta's cross from the right and instead deflected the ball into his own net.

The 20-year-old defender could hardly believe his eyes, and it felt as though the Chelsea fans couldn't either.

But despite the disappointing way that Derby conceded the opener, the visitors got back into the game when they capitalised on a mistake from the Chelsea defence, specifically, an error from captain Gary Cahill to level just four minutes later.

The 32-year-old conceded possession to Tom Huddlestone, who powered his way through Chelsea's midfield to tee up lifelong Blues fan Marriott, who delivered a fine, low finish to restore parity.

But it transpired that that would not be the only defensive error to be made in this game because in the 21st minute Zappacosta's cross was deflected into the goal by Derby captain Keogh.

Lampard, who had received a warm reception by the Chelsea fans four years on from leaving the club as their all-time record goalscorer, looked bemused on the touchline at the fact his side had scored two own goals.

READ MORE: Arsenal survive huge scare to get past Blackpool

READ MORE: Lewis Wing sends Middlesbrough flying past Eagles

READ MORE: Son, Llorente score as Spurs beat West Ham

But more drama was to come in the first half as another on-loan Chelsea player, Mount, then set up Waghorn - who appeared to be in an offside position - for a tap-in which levelled the score at 2-2.

Fabregas, though, went on to net his first goal of the season in the 41st minute to restore Chelsea's advantage going into the break.

In a bid to tighten up Chelsea's porous defence, Maurizio Sarri opted to replace Andreas Christensen who, along with Cahill, had a tough night with David Luiz in the second half.

But Derby still threatened particularly when Mount fired wide with 20 minutes left and Willy Caballero was forced to make two saves in the space of a minute while substitute David Nugent hit the post late on.

The Blues could have had another but Scott Carson parried clear Alvaro Morata's header, yet Chelsea held on at the other end to book their place in the next round of the League Cup and deny Lampard a dream return to his former stomping ground.