The gloom surrounding Chelsea deepened as arch-rivals Arsenal outclassed them 3-0 in the London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday night

Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil got a goal each as the Gunners ran riot in a wondrous first-half display

Cesc Fabregas returned to the starting line-up after his mid-week heroics over Leicester City in the EFL Cup, but he was quite disappointing against his ex-club.

He wasn’t the only Blues player to put in a sub-par shift as winger Eden Hazard once again was anonymous when his team needed him the most. Antonio Conte’s men simply lacked desire, and were outperformed by the hosts in virtually every department.

Arsenal began the match on the front foot, dominating possession as they looked for an early breakthrough. 

And it came as early as the 11th minute, and Gary Cahill was caught napping with the ball near the half-line by the tenacious Alexis Sanchez. Clean though on goal, the Chilean masterfully dinked the ball over the oncoming Thibaut Courtois to get the Emirates Stadium going. It was Sanchez’s 100th appearance for Arsenal, and his 47th goal just goes on to prove that Arsene Wenger can still make a shrewd signing.

The Gunners fans have been tormented by the Chelsea faithful for many years now, as the West London side have dominated this fixture and performed better in the league for quite a few seasons now.

That seems to be changing for the moment at least, and just three minutes after the first goal, Arsenal had their second. Alex Iwobi, all of 20 years, showed he is up for the occasion with a cool though ball for the quick Hector Bellerin who squared it for Theo Walcott to tap in from 5 yards.

Chelsea tried to string together a meaningful attack, but apart from a Wilian shot that narrowly missed the target from an acute angle, they were quite woeful. Costa was quite isolated up front, and Hazard was nowhere to be seen.

N’Golo Kante, bought this season to shore up the midfield, was guilty of overcommitting himself minutes before half-time, allowing Ozil to spin through and find an increasingly confident Sanchez.

Despite having the option to shoot himself, the Chilean set up Ozil with a lofted cross, and the German&’s volley into the ground deceived Courtois from an acute angle to send Gunner fans into delirium.

The second half was more of a procession, as Arsenal continue to enjoy possession and were quite relaxed against an ineffective Chelsea attack.

Michy Batshuayi had a chance to get a consolation goal after Arsenal had committed too many men in attack, but Petr Cech made a superb shot to keep the hosts’ clean sheet.

In an day and age where there are literally thousands of stats available, the most damning one for Chelsea was the fact that they failed to register a shot on target until Batshuayi&’s chance in the 84th minute.

The worries mount for Conte, who is a top-notch manager, but will be feeling the heat from the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich quite soon should results not improve.

Arsenal though, deserve a day or two off after an near-perfect display against a side that seemed to have their number. They are third in the table, five points behind leaders Manchester City and along with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, look like the only sides that can challenge Pep Guardiola&’s team.