Premier League: Arsenal 3 Chelsea 1

Arsenal landed a stunning blow in the title race and left rivals Chelsea on the canvas following a 3-1 victory at The Emirates on Monday.

Goals from Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott helped the Gunners end their ‘big two’ hoodoo – which had seen them draw one and lose 10 of the last 11 games against championship rivals Chelsea and Man United – and moved them to second on the English Premier League table.

And it means they are now United’s closest rivals at the top of the league – just two points adrift of the summit and right back in the title hunt.

In contrast, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is under severe pressure, with his team lying fourth in the table, only one point above fifth-placed Tottenham and two ahead of sixth-placed Bolton – who visit Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Ancelotti can have no complaints about the result at the Emirates after Arsenal dominated for long periods and stormed into a three-goal lead before Branislav Ivanovic grabbed a consolation goal.

It was a drastic contrast to last season, when Chelsea won 3-0 at Arsenal on their way to the title in a match that was described by pundits as ‘men against boys’.

It certainly did not look that way this time as Arsenal’s youngsters proved they have come of age with an energetic and confident performance.

Wenger opted for an attacking line-up, bringing in Walcott and Robin van Persie to join Samir Nasri in a front three and pairing Jack Wilshere and Fabregas in midfield.

But he was rewarded for his ambition.

Chelsea, with Frank Lampard making his first start since August after finally recovering from hernia surgery, remained cautious and strangely quiet.

That was all the encouragement Wenger’s side needed.

The fact that Arsenal had not defeated Chelsea since November 2008 and lost the last five encounters added to the sensation that this was a pivotal game in the season, and when the opening goal came after 44 minutes it was richly deserved.

Drogba had sent one early chance narrowly wide but Arsenal had by that staged dominated possession, with a 20-minute spell eventually rewarded when Alex Song – meant to be the one defensive midfielder in Arsenal’s line-up – played a one-two with Jack Wilshere and spun to fire home an excellent low, left-foot effort.

Many would have expected Chelsea to respond in the second half but, with only a collection of reserves and youngsters on the bench, they had little available in their armoury to change the game.

The arrival of substitutes Gael Kakuta, Ramires and Jose Bosingwa hardly had Arsenal shaking in their boots and Wenger’s men roared into a three-goal lead with a dramatic and inspirational period of attacking football at the start of the second period.

The second goal was gifted to them when Essien’s attempted tackle saw the ball run straight into the path of the inspired Walcott, who shuffled it to the left for captain Cesc Fabregas to side-foot home in the 51st minute.

Within 90 seconds it was 3-0. This time, the woefully out-of-form Malouda dithered as Walcott stole the ball from him, played a one-two with Fabregas and finished expertly across Petr Cech.

Chelsea did respond quickly as Ivanovic heading home a Drogba free-kick to make it 3-1 in the 57th minute, but despite a late burst they never looked likely to turn the game around.