Diego Costa scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea completed a league double over 10-man Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.
Per Mertesacker was given his marching orders in the first half for bringing down Costa as he ran through clean on goal.
And they were to be punished further as Costa scored to rub salt in the wounds of the Arsenal fans in attendance.
The result means the Gunners missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League and now sit in third, only two points ahead of north London rivals Tottenham.
The game began brightly with Chelsea’s high tempo nearly rewarded inside two minutes but Oscar dragged his shot wide of Petr Cech’s upright.
The moment of the half happened after only 17 minutes when Mertesacker brought down Costa as the striker raced through on goal, leading to referee Mark Clattenburg producing the red card for the German.
And it got worse five minutes later when Costa arrived at the near post to hit home Branislav Ivanovic’s low cross ahead of substitute Gabriel as Chelsea took the lead in north London.
The Blues continued to dominate as Arsenal looked to hit their visitors on the break, and they came close when Nacho Monreal split the defence to find Theo Walcott, but his shot went just wide of the post.
Cech needed to be alert at the other end to prevent Costa doubling his tally as the Spaniard skipped through the Arsenal defence before unleashing a powerful shot at the near post.
The Gunners should have been level on the stroke of half time but Mathieu Flamini spooned the ball over the bar from six yards after a delightful dinked pass from Aaron Ramsey.
Arsenal were an improved side after the break but Chelsea felt hard done by when they were denied a penalty when Laurent Koscielny body-checked Cesc Fabregas as the former Gunner drove into the box.
As the game wore on Chelsea looked to consolidate their lead but were made to do so without goalscorer Diego Costa, who limped off with what looked like a hamstring injury.
Arsenal showed a bit more urgency through the returning Alexis Sanchez but his rustiness was evident having not played since the end of November.
The three points mean the Blues move up to 13th, only five points off Manchester United in fifth.
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Source: TalkSport