A firm header from Marcos Alonso, a dazzling individual effort from Eden Hazard and a lob from Cesc Fabregas earned Premier League leaders Chelsea an emphatic 3-1 victory over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea moved 12 points clear of their London rivals and the chasing pack with a dominant performance that featured one of the solo goals of the season from Hazard.
After Alonso had outmuscled Hector Bellerin to head home in the 13th minute, the Belgian struck early in second half, picking up the ball just past the halfway line and shrugging off Francis Coquelin before rounding Laurent Koscielny and dodging Shkodran Mustafi to score.
Chelsea outplayed Arsenal, watched helplessly by their suspended manager Arsene Wenger from the stands, and goalkeeper Petr Cech gifted Fabregas the third when he failed to clear and the Spaniard lofted the ball into an empty net.
Arsenal substitute Olivier Giroud headed a consolation goal in stoppage time but his side were left a dozen points adrift in third place, their title challenge seemingly all but over with three months of the season left.
Arsenal, who handed Antonio Conte's side their worst beating of the season in September, 3-0 at the Emirates, paid heavily for the temerity.
""We played a good game with a good intensity and organisation. We deserved to win today and I'm pleased for my players," Conte said.
"Fantastic. In football you get opportunities to put things right. I remember walking off after defeat at Arsenal, I felt like a bit of a mug after that game," Chelsea's Gary Cahill added.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger complained that there was a foul and Chelsea's opener should not have stood due to Alonso collecting Bellerin with an elbow.
"The first goal was 100 per cent a foul," Wenger said.
"The second goal was a little bit of a killer for us.
"It made it much more difficult. We had the right attitude but lacked a little bit of experience. Even our experienced players did not play their best today."
Reuters.