Drogba’s double ends Arsenal’s title hopes

Arsenal's title bid was left looking dead in the water as they were outmuscled and outfought by one of their main title rivals once again. This time it was Chelsea who proved too strong, and the Blues return to the top of the table thanks to two goals from Didier Drogba.

It was another horror show for the Gunners who, it seems, simply can't live with the Premier League's biggest names. Arsenal's record against Chelsea and Manchester United this season reads played four, lost four, with two goals for and 10 against.

Their match against Liverpool on Wednesday now has serious implications for Arsenal's hopes of holding onto third place - a problem few would have predicted a month ago.

It was the old Arsenal failings that came back to haunt them at Stamford Bridge. At times they completely dominated possession, but infuriatingly for their fans they failed to capitalise on their superiority. For all their pretty build-up play the lightweight Arsenal front line could not get past Chelsea's defence - marshalled impressively by John Terry.

The Chelsea skipper had endured a terrible week after revelations about his private life, which culminated in his sacking as England captain. But he ended the game soaking up the adulation of his fans, kissing the Chelsea badge and throwing his shirt into the crowd.

It was Terry who set up Chelsea's opener after just seven minutes. He was left almost unmarked in the Arsenal box and was able to head Florent Malouda's header back across the penalty area, where Didier Drogba pounced to fire the ball past Manuel Almunia. It was shocking defending from Arsenal, but worse was to come.

Chelsea's second, after 23 minutes, was a very similar affair to Manchester United's second against the Gunners last week, and was borne of Arsenal attack. When yet another intricate move broke down on the edge of the Chelsea box the Blues broke at pace with Frank Lampard who fed Drogba. The Ivory Coast international burst into the box, cut across the back-pedalling Gael Clichy and Thomas Vermaelen and fired home from 12 yards.

By contrast Arsenal lacked any focus to their attack. Theo Walcott struggled on the right and Andrei Arshavin had no chance against the Terry and Ricardo Carvalho. Even when Nicklas Bendtner added some muscle to the front line they were still found wanting, and the best chance of the game was a Cesc Fabregas free kick that Petr Cech dealt with.

At the other end the rampant Drogba, who has scored 12 times in 12 games against Arsenal for Chelsea, missed out on a hat-trick when his second half free kick came back off the bar.

After the game Arsene Wenger said the result was "difficult to swallow" as his team had the better of the game - but it would not have been an entirely alien experience for Wenger to have seen the match slip away from his side. The Arsenal manager conceded that his side, who are now nine points behind Chelsea, were "outsiders" in the title race. "We will fight until the last day of the season," he said.

Chelsea boss heaped praise on his "perfect" captain Terry and "fantastic" goalscorer Drogba after the game, and Chelsea now look favourites to take the Premier League title.