Didier Drogba has again inflicted pain on Arsenal, scoring his 13th goal in as many games against the Blues' London rivals.
The Ivory Coast international now has a near faultless record against the Gunners with ten wins and three draws since he joined Chelsea in 2004.
He kicked things off at Stamford Bridge with a superb finish in the 39th minute after ex-Gunner Ashley Cole combined with Ramires before finding Drogba from the left flank and the star striker netted with a sneaky left-footed touch that gave Lukasz Fabianski no chance.
It was a typically free-flowing London derby which saw both sides have plenty of chances but the only other one converted was that of Brazilian defender Alex who smashed a 30-yard free-kick into the roof of the net to send his side four points clear at the top of the table in emphatic style even though Arsenal controlled much of the second half.
Chelsea: 2 (Didier Drogba 39', Alex 85') Arsenal: 0
Venue: Stamford Bridge, West London Crowd: 41,828 Referee: Mike Dean Yellow cards:CHE - Paulo Ferreira 80' ARS - Laurent Koscielny 84'
Starting Line-Ups
CHE Petr Cech (gk), John Terry, Alex, Ashley Cole, Branislav Ivanovic (Ferreira 73'), John Obi Mikel (Sturridge 89'), Ramires (Zhirkov 83'), Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka
Subs - Ross Turnbull (gk), Paulo Ferreira (73'), Yuri Zhirkov (83'), Daniel Sturridge (89'), Gael Kakuta, Patrick van Aanholt, Josh McEachran
ARSLukasz Fabianski (gk), Laurent Koscielny, Sebastien Squillaci, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Jack Wilshere (Emmanuel-Thomas 81'), Alex Song, Abou Diaby (Rosicky 70'), Andrei Arshavin (Vela 87'), Samir Nasri, Marouane Chamakh.
Subs - Wojciech Szczesny (gk), Tomas Rosicky (70'), Emmanuel Eboue, Johan Djourou, Denilson, Carlos Vela (87'), Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (81')
