It was a result that Chelsea used to dish out ever so often to Arsenal over the years. The tables dramatically turned at the Emirates on Saturday as Antonio Conte's side was outclassed in all departments, with Arsenal thrashing Chelsea 3-0. Alexis Sanchez opened the deadlock and Theo Walcott added a second only a few minutes later. Mesut Ozil's excellent strike in the 40th minute handed Arsene Wenger's side a three-goal advantage at the break.
Chelsea could manage only one shot on target through the entire game and their defense, which once formed their backbone, was cut to ribbons by the pacy and creative Arsenal side.
Gary Cahill made a few costly mistakes in Chelsea's midweek win against Leicester City in the League Cup too. An inspired Cesc Fabregas performance meant that those blemishes were forgotten soon. Against a player of Sanchez's quality, he was not going to get any freebies. The Chilean wheeled away and chipped the ball over Thibaut Courtois to put Arsenal in the lead.
Two minutes later, the Gunners pulled off a stunning move, typical of what they can do when they get they can tune up their passing game to full volume. Alex Iwobi and Mesut Ozil exchanged slick one-touch passes to tee up Hector Bellerin, who passed the ball for Walcott to double the lead.
The home side suffered a setback with midfield enforcer Francis Coquelin walking off after suffering a knock. Arsenal by now were happy to sit back and let Chelsea have the ball. The North London side always had the pace and creativity in their ranks to cause damage.
Chelsea had a couple of half-chances which, were almost make or break at the time. Eden Hazard's shot across the face of goal from the left went wide while a vicious drive from Diego Costa from the right went harmlessly wide of the far post.
Winning the ball at the edge of the Chelsea half. Ozil started the move. It was a two vs two situation in defense and Sanchez crossed the ball from the right flank to Ozil at the far post. The German took his shot on the volley, and the bounced over the unmoved Courtois and into the net.
Chelsea were toothless in the second half too, but did somewhat a better job in stemming the rate at which Arsenal were launching their attacks. It could be pinned down to Wenger's side being content on passing the ball among themselves for large spells.
Arsenal came close to adding to their goal tally through Walcott but Courtois, for once, was an assured presence in front of goal. Bellerin, apart from setting up the first goal, was immense at the back. His tackle to win the ball when substitute Pedro was running away towards goal was straight out a seasoned defender's repertoire. Conte suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time in seven years. The Arsenal faithful could scarcely believe what unfolded in front of them, as they cheered raucously throughout the game.