Just when you thought they had blown it, Arsenal produced the most unlikely of victories.
Six goals, a crazy rollercoaster ride in a thrilling London derby, wild Arsenal celebrations and Cesar Azpilicueta angrily confronting a Chelsea fan after the final whistle.
It felt like a huge win for Arsenal as suddenly Mikel Arteta can dream about the top four again as they showed real character and courage to bounce back after losing their previous three games.
Suddenly it feels like Arsenal are back in the hunt for the Champions League as it will come down to a battle of wills between Arteta’s men, Tottenham and Manchester United.
Eddie Nketiah was the unlikely two-goal hero and, after not scoring in the Premier League for 367 days, the Arsenal striker popped up with a brilliant double at Stamford Bridge.
Incredibly, Chelsea have now conceded 11 goals in their last three home games, four against Brentford, three against Real Madrid and now four more against a team that had forgotten how to score.
Bukayo Saka then completed the win with an injury-time penalty in front of the delirious away end in what was his first spot-kick since his heartbreaking miss in the shoot-out in the Euros final last summer.
It finished as a nightmare for Chelsea and, in particular, for Romelu Lukaku who was booed off when he was substituted after 60 minutes after yet another nightmare, ineffective performance.
But Azpilicueta took matters into his own hands as the Chelsea captain had a stinker himself, conceding the last gasp penalty with a moment of madness and then confronting a fan who seemed to back down straight away.
These games at Stamford Bridge between the two London rivals often produce thrillers but it is hard to remember many better as the first half swung this way and that as twice Arsenal took the lead and then twice Chelsea pegged them back.
It was as much about Arsenal’s attacking threat as Chelsea’s defensive frailties as both managers rang the changes with Thomas Tuchel resting his weary players and Arteta trying to get a response.
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Arsenal delivered it for their manager. They opened the scoring after just 13 minutes when Andreas Christensen got himself into a mess, dropped a back pass horribly short and that let in Nketiah who raced clear before slotting the ball past Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy.
But Nketiah undid his good work five minutes later, his careless pass gave the ball to Ruben Loftus-Cheek before Timo Werner hit a shot that deflected off Granit Xhaka and, even though keeper Aaron Ramsdale was wrong-footed, the ball almost went in in slow motion.
Arsenal were back in front after 27 minutes. Xhaka led the charge out of his own box, nutmegged Marcos Alonso and Saka and Martin Odegaard combined before Emile Smith Rowe almost passed the ball into the bottom corner.
Five minutes later, Chelsea levelled. Mason Mount put over a near-post cross, Cesar Azpilicueta nipped in and squeezed a low shot past Ramsdale.
Thomas Tuchel sent on Thiago Silva at half time but it did not stop the goals. Azpilicueta gave the ball away after 57 minutes, Nuno Tavares bombed forward down the left, Chelsea were guilty of more comical defending and Nketiah poked Arsenal ahead.
There was time for more drama as Azpilicueta pulled down Saka in the box. Up stepped Saka to convert the kick and the only shame was that the stadium only had 32,249 inside because of the Government sanctions.
