Persie hat-trick sees off Chelsea

Arsenal got their faltering season back on track with an excellent offensive display at the Stamford Bridge. Captain Robin van Persie continued his great form with a well taken hat-trick to take Arsenal up to 7th in the table.

Thomas Vermaelen started the game from the bench, as Arsene Wenger refused to take any risks after he was taken off in midweek with a suspected calf problem. Chelsea, on the other hand were missing Didier Drogba after his red card against QPR last weekend.

The game was an open affair, with Arsenal showing some suspect defending for all three of Chelsea's goals. However, their superior fitness levels and work rate were the main reasons for their triumph.

Arsenal started the match with Djourou playing at right back, and it looked like a mistake straight away as he was caught out of position twice and it was poor finishing from Torres that prevented them from going two up in the first five minutes.

Santos looked clearly short of match fitness and faced some testing times as well, often losing out to Bosingwa and Sturridge on his flank.

Arsenal's first real attack almost led to a goal and came in the 12th minute. Walcott broke brilliantly and sent in a ball from the right flank for Gervinho, who uncharacteristically missed a simple tap in from five yards out.

They were made to pay just two minutes later when Frank Lampard got his head to a Juan Mata cross as a result of poor marking from Mertesacker to make it 1-0 to the home side.

This seemed to wake Arsenal up a little and they tried to get in a few attacks, but to no avail. Bosingwa and Ashley Cole were bombarding up the flanks like wingers and were being afforded too much space on the ball.

A moment of brilliance by Aaron Ramsey in the 36th minute put Arsenal on level terms. He disguised a perfectly weighted through ball for Gervinho, who played the ball for van Persie to roll into an empty net.

Chelsea got back on the attack and everyone thought they scored in the 38th minute, but Sturridge was offside and the goal did not count.

However, Arsenal's vulnerability from set pieces was exploited again when Chelsea took the lead on the stroke of half time. A Lampard corner found its way to an unmarked John Terry, who clumsily kicked in the ball into the bottom corner. Mertesacker was having a dreadful game and should have done a lot better for that goal.

Chelsea went into halftime with the lead and it seemed that they would continue to expose Arsenal's defensive frailties in the second half as well.

However, just four minutes into the second half, Arsenal equalized again when Alex Song played a brilliant through ball for Andre Santos who was in acres of space. Santos' shot went under Cech's legs to send Arsenal fans into raptures.

The goal seemed to give Arsenal more confidence and they started putting more men forward. They were rewarded in the 56th minute when a piece of exquisite individual skill from Theo Walcott put them in the lead. Walcott cut in from the right flank and made his way past two players before falling over. However before any Chelsea, player could react, Walcott found his feet and went past two more players with two 'Ronaldinho'-esque touches and took a shot that went in at Cech's near post. It was now 3-2 to the Gunners.

The game stayed that way for a while, with both teams trying to attack, but Arsenal were soaking up the Chelsea pressure with ease.

However, in the 81st minute, Juan Mata found himself in a bit of open space and took a brilliant shot from 25 yards out that left Szczesny flat footed and found its way into the net. Chelsea had got the equalizer they so badly desired and now it seemed as if they were going for the kill.

An uncharacteristic slip by John Terry after a Malouda back pass put all dreams of victory to rest as van Persie collected the ball, rounded the keeper and passed the ball into an empty net yet again to give Arsenal the lead with just five minutes of regulation time left to play.

Chelsea tried throwing all their men forward, but this backfired as they were caught out in defence in the 92nd minute. Arteta played a lovely ball for van Persie who took a shot from the edge of the box that swerved past Cech and went into the net. van Persie had his much deserved hat-trick and had now scored 7 goals in his last 3 games.

This proved to be the final bit of excitement in the game as Arsenal took home a massive three points that could help them obtain a top four finish later in the season. Wenger will have to add more players to his squad in winter and sort out his defensive problems but this victory will give his side a massive morale boost.

Andre Villas-Boas, on the other hand, will have to pick his side up after two consecutive losses and prepare them for their next game against Genk in the Champions League.