Report: Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal

Arsenal made a stunning visit to Stamford Bridge today.

In an open game of attacking ease and defensive lapses, the Gunners went behind as Lampard beat Mertesacker to a free header but Gervinho gifted Van Persie a tap-in to equalize soon after.

Chelsea then went in front again on the stroke of halftime as John Terry guided the ball past Szczesney with his knee from a corner-kick as Mertersacker scrambled again.

The Gunners returned a revitalized side for the second-half though as literally quick-fire strikes from Santos and Walcott – the former a neat, low finish from the left and the latter a stunning dribble and then ferocious right-footer – sent Arsenal 3-2 up.

Wenger’s men had turned the tables, but their character was put to test again as Juan Mata struck home a long-range effort – after Arsenal’s Santos looked to have been fouled in the build-up – leveling matters yet again at 3-3.

Then with around five minutes of regulation time left and the match poised for any sort of winner, a Malouda back-pass was misread by Terry with Van Persie lurking. Terry gave up the chase to maintain possession and Arsenal’s skipper capitalized to cooly dribble past Cech and guide the ball into an empty net.

The hosts were huffing and puffing for a late equalizer when Arsenal counter-attacked in injury time and Van Persie smashed a stunning effort past Cech to complete a hat-trick and a 5-3 win which wowed the Stamford Bridge crowd.