3 things from Saturday's Premier League action: Manchester City fail to gain ground on Chelsea

Saturday's Premier League action offered a scintillating matchup between Chelsea and Manchester City that had the makings of a classic with the return of Frank Lampard to Stamford Bridge. The match, however, failed to live up to its billings, as the gap between the two remained the same after 90 minutes.

The sleight of games also saw the return of Daniel Sturridge as the Liverpool striker picked up where he left off by bagging a goal in the team's victory over West Ham, while Manchester United picked up an important three points against Leicester City to avenge their embarrassing loss from earlier in the season.

theScore's Gordon Brunt and Gianluca Nesci run down three things you need to know from Saturday's Premier League action.

Chelsea maintain 5-point gap on Manchester City

Gordon Brunt: Frank Lampard failed to recreate the magic and heartbreak he delivered to Chelsea in the first match against his former club as the league-leaders held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The defending Premier League champions brought the Chelsea legend off the bench in the second half to a nice ovation from the Stamford Bridge faithful. Many in attendance, however, would be forgiven for a short-lived ovation, with memories of Lampard's heartbreaking equaliser still fresh in their minds after the two clubs met in the fall and produced the same result.

The Hollywood return never came close to materialising as both teams followed-up on an eventful first half with a second half chalked full of midfield battles and offered little excitement for the neutral supporters.

The result allows Chelsea to retain its five-point lead atop the Premier League standings, with little chance of that margin decreasing as games against Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester, and Burnley await.

The game had a chippy nature to it as the first half hour saw both sides play physically, offering few chances for either team.

The most promising opportunity for a goal came after half hour mark when Sergio Aguero found himself inside the Chelsea box and beyond the defenders. His low shot, however, curled wide of the net.

Fernandinho made his presence in the midfield known with great physical play and crucial tackles on Ramires and Nemanja Matic to thwart Chelsea from generating momentum.

However, Chelsea opened the scoring after carving the City defence to pieces. Ivanovic's lob into the box found a surging Eden Hazard who had the whereabouts to supply a cross into the box to find an open Loic Remy for the open-net goal.

City found an answer in the dying minutes of the first half, courtesy of Thibaut Courtois' poor clearance attempt. 

As James Milner delivered a cross into the box, the Belgian 'keeper poorly judged the pace of the ball and was left in an awkward position as Aguero collected it. The Argentine's powerful strike toward the net clipped of David Silva's foot and into the open net while Courtois stood helplessly at the penalty spot.

Lampard's appearance was the highlight of the second half, but Chelsea's defensive mindset prevented City from generating any real opportunities for the go-ahead goal.

Manchester United get their vengeance

Gianluca Nesci: Not this time, Leicester.

Manchester United exacted a measure of revenge for their shocking 5-3 loss against the Foxes earlier in the season, with goals from Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao - two much-maligned strikers - doing the damage against the Premier League basement dwellers.

Van Persie opened the scoring in the 27th minute, and Falcao added a second five minutes later before Wes Morgan's own-goal just before the interval effectively ended this as a contest.

The Colombian, despite often looking to be lacking the necessary pace, sharpness, and finishing instinct, may be coming around for manager Louis van Gaal.

Leicester would avoid the clean sheet through an 80th-minute goal from Marcin Wasilewski, adding some respectability to the scoreline.

Sadly for Nigel Pearson, and the avid anti-United crowd, unlike that memorable contest in September, the Red Devils would not blow a 3-1 advantage this time around.

Sturridge returns, helps Liverpool top West Ham

Gianluca Nesci: He's back. He's really back.

Five months after his last match, Daniel Sturridge returned to the pitch for Liverpool on Saturday against West Ham, playing the role of super-sub in a 2-0 victory at Anfield.

Raheem Sterling had already made it 1-0 by the time Sturridge came on to a rousing ovation from the home crowd in the 68th minute, but the 25-year-old was undoubtedly the star of the show after his introduction.

"It was a great feeling," Sturridge said after the match. No kidding.

As noted by Opta, Sturridge "has now scored in five of his seven league appearances for Liverpool from the bench." Maybe he should start all of his matches as a substitute?

 (Not actually, though.)