Arsenal moved up to joint second in the Premiership after finally plundering a 3-1 win against a Chelsea side that had previously held the upper hand over the Gunners. Four goals in thirteen minutes either side of half time decided this enthralling contest at The Emirates.
Unfortunately for a lacklustre Chelsea they conceded three of those goals and never looked like mounting a comeback even when Branislav Ivanovic reduced the deficit with 30 minutes remaining.
Arsenal had struggled in recent seasons against Chelsea and Manchester United but for tonight at least they laid to rest the Blues side of that equation.
The Gunner dominated throughout and were in no way flattered by the scoreline.
Alex Song set them on their way with a goal on the stroke of half-time, but all the damage was done in a two minute period after the break.
Cesc Fabregas doubled the host's advantage quickly followed by a strike from the influential Theo Walcott.
Ivanovic seemed to have given Chelsea a glimmer of hope but not even Didier Drogba who has scored eight goals against Arsenal in the Premier League, could make any impression as the Blues surrendered meekly.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Venue: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 60,112
Arsenal scorers: Song 44, Fabregas 51, Walcott 53 Chelsea scorers: Ivanovic 57
ARSENAL 21 Fabianski 03 Sagna 06 Koscielny 20 Djourou 22 Clichy 04 Fabregas (yellow card) (Rosicky 88) 08 Nasri 14 Walcott (Diaby 73) 17 A Song 19 Wilshere 10 Van Persie (yellow card) (Chamakh 76)
Substitutes 53 Szczesny, 18 Squillaci, 02 Diaby, 07 Rosicky, 23 Arshavin, 29 Chamakh, 52 Bendtner
CHELSEA 01 Cech 02 Ivanovic 03 A Cole (yellow card) 19 Ferreira (Bosingwa 61) 26 Terry 05 Essien 08 Lampard (yellow card) 12 Mikel (Ramires 46) 15 Malouda (Kakuta 56) 11 Drogba 21 Kalou (yellow card)
Substitutes 22 Turnbull, 17 Bosingwa, 38 Van Aanholt, 43 Bruma, 07 Ramires, 46 McEachran, 44 Kakuta
