On this form they look title contenders.
It was a first half Chelsea will want to forget, particularly Gary Cahill, whose mistake was punished by Alexis Sanchez. A sloppy turn and back pass allowed an aggressive Alexis to intercept and chip over the advancing Courtois.
Chelsea were barely finished licking their wounds, when an elaborate Arsenal attack saw Iwobi find Bellerin on the overlap and his cross was tapped in by Theo Walcott.
Chelsea barely threatened at all in the first half, although Willian came close, dragging his shot just wide of the post.
Arsenal struck again before halftime. Mesut Ozil brilliantly broke out on the break, slipped the ball to Alexis and volleyed home the return pass. The game was essentially over.
The second half saw Arsenal sit back a little more and attempt to hit Chelsea on the break. The Gunners easily had half a dozen chances that they somehow squandered, many of them more promising than the chances they created in the first half.
Chelsea looked more dangerous in the second half, but Arsenal’s defence made a number of late interventions and Cech made a fine save off Batshuayi near the end.
Now the challenge will be to continue to build on this form and not to lapse into old bad habits.
Player Ratings.
Cech 7. Petr Cech had little to do against his old team. He made one fine save off Batshuayi, who broke through on his own. Cech could have done better in the first half when he punched a ball away, but not far enough. Hazard missed the goal on the subsequent shot.
Bellerin 8. A fine match for Hector, but he did get away with several poor passes, which put the defence under pressure. Coming forward he had a strong match and he made several overlapping runs. The key one saw him assist on the second goal. He also made one key run back and stopped Costa from getting a shot away.
Mustafi 7. A solid match with few mistakes.
Koscielny 8. Did a fine job stopping Costa, who tried his best to test him. Was beaten once, when he and Mustafi had a misunderstanding, but Bellerin raced back to save the day.
Monreal 7. Early on he squeezed in too much and gave Willian too much room. Later he was a lot more solid and attacked often in the second half.
Coquelin 7. Was playing well when he hurt his knee, the same knee as last year. Hopefully he’ll be back soon.
Cazorla 8. Was not physically overrun like many feared he might. He was great and was dominant in the second half when he was at the centre of almost everything.
Ozil 9. His best match of the year. The third goal was wonderfully taken (hitting the volley into the ground proved to be just right). In the second half he created so much and the strikers squandered all of their chances. Actually he squandered one to two as well. His control and vision were fantastic.
Walcott 8. He continues his fine form as of late. His goal was fairly straightforward, but his movement was excellent. He had chances in the second half to score and assist more than once. Most pleasing is his defence, where he is working hard to get back and help out.
Sanchez 9. Man of the match. A great first goal, even though Cahill gifted the chance. He assisted on Ozil’s goal with a lovely little cross. Was a handful in the second half as well. Playing in the middle appears to suit him.
Iwobi 8. Another fine match from Alex. Constantly got in positions where he was dangerous. His fine pass to Bellerin set up the second goal.
Substitutes:
Xhaka 7. Came on for Coquelin and played a strong match. Tried to score from long range and extend his streak to no avail. The ball sailed into the stands.
Gibbs 8. Outstanding cameo from Kieran, who made several key interceptions, one of which kept Chelsea from scoring near the end. He also made a couple of fine attacking moves.
Giroud n/a. Not on for long, but he did have several half chances to score.