Drogba, who has so often been the scourge of Chelsea, was at it again with two first-half goals to send Chelsea two points clear of Manchester United and put a massive dent in Arsenal's title challenge.

John Terry put his off-field problems behind him to help set up the opener for Drogba after just eight minutes and Drogba added a second on 23 minutes with a thumping finish after Chelsea caught Arsenal on the break.

Arsenal dominated possession for long proceedings of the game, but they could not find a way past Petr Cech and a dominant Chelsea defence.