Didier Drogba took his goal tally against Arsenal to 12 in 12 games today as we dominated the Gunners at Stamford Bridge.

The Ivorian netted both of the Blues' goals as Chelsea smothered the competition and Petr Cech kept his 100th Premier League clean sheet.

John Terry also put in an outstanding performance as he captained Chelsea back to the top of the Barclays Premier League with the 2-0 win.

It was an eventful match which unfolded amidst an electric atmosphere in west London as Chelsea achieved our second win of the campaign over Arsene Wenger's side.

In the team today, both John Mikel Obi and Cech reached milestones as they made their 150th and 250th Chelsea appearances respectively.

It was Mikel's first fixture since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations and he lined up in the middle of Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard. In front of them sat Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda, with Didier Drogba leading the attack.

Arsenal fielded Theo Walcott at right wing, while Thomas Rosicky warmed the bench. Their attacking three also included Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri.

The last time Arsenal won at Stamford Bridge was 30 November 2008, since then the Blues have won 35 games and with Drogba up front, Chelsea threatened from the off. First Gael Clichy had to clear a difficult long ball away from the Ivorian before he tapped a failed William Gallas clearance into Malouda's path.

Unfortunately Malouda's opportunity came to nothing, but the intent was already on show.

Instead it was a mid-air clash with Clichy that would indirectly produce Chelsea's first goal. With Drogba taking the freekick 30 yards from the net, Walcott headed the dangerous ball out for a Malouda corner.

When the ball came curling into the box, Terry leapt to connect head first and silence his critics. The header sent the ball soaring towards the far post where Drogba was waiting to tap past Manuel Almunia. It was 1-0 with only seven minutes played.

Arsenal created two chances inside the first 20 minutes. Initially Nasri broke into the box for a one-on-one situation with Cech, with our keeper sending the ball out for a corner. Then Arshavin had a shot blocked by Cech's feet after our number 1 came out to meet the Gunners' frontman inside the box.

But Chelsea were looking strong on the counter-attack and as the stadium buzzed with end-to-end football, it wasn't long before Drogba made it two.

Breaking down the right flank following a Lampard ball, he cut inside Clichy before drilling a left-footed shot into the net from 10 yards out. It was beautiful counter-attacking play from the Blues and a phenomenal finish by the Ivorian.

Despite the strong lead, Chelsea continued to push with Ashley Cole, Anelka, Malouda and Terry all creating further opportunities before the break, while Arsenal produced only half-chances in return.

By the time the second half got underway, the rain had begun and it dampened the intensity of the game as neither side threatened either goal for 10 minutes.

But then a Malouda volley spurred the Blues back into action as he attempted to convert a Drogba cross at the far post. Lampard also got a touch to the shot but it wasn't enough to push it past Almunia.

Now Chelsea were threatening once again as Ivanovic broke past Clichy and Alex Song before feeding Lampard on the edge of the box.

Then, as a flare was lit in the Gunners' part of the Shed End, Nasri managed to force a save from Cech who collected the Frenchman's strike with ease seconds before the flare was extinguished.

The visitors were increasingly beginning to hold possession around the Chelsea box, but without any end product.

Arsenal were in need of an out-and-out striker to have any chance of pulling a goal back, but when Walcott made way for Nicolas Bendtner, their chances weren't looking good!

However, the number 52 did manage to win a freekick on the edge of the box when Ricardo Carvalho cut him to the ground.

Fabregas stepped up to take, forcing Cech into an outstanding save as the ball slipped through the wall and headed towards the bottom right. Bendtner failed to collect the rebound.

Things were heating up as Thomas Vermaelen dived into the East Lower's crowd after attempting to prevent a throw-in.

Intent on pulling a goal back, Arsene Wenger made a further two changes with Tomas Rosicky replacing Abou Diaby and Emmanuel Eboue coming on for Bacary Sagna.

Arsenal's best chance of scoring in the second half came soon after the new arrivals, when Fabregas headed down for Bendtner, only for Cech to scoop the ball away from the striker's feet.

With eight minutes left, Lampard won a freekick just over 20 yards out when Song fouled our vice-captain.

Drogba was set to take it, in the same position from where he scored at the Emirates earlier in the season, but could only watch as the ball ricocheted off the bar before being cleared.

Then Anelka sent a shot careering into the crowd from close range after a Lampard freekick saw the ball delivered across the face of goal.

Chelsea's third goal never arrived as we ran out victorious with two goals and no return. It was a strong performance as we climbed back to the top of the League in front of the home fans and possibly banished Arsenal from the title race.

By Christian Collison

Chelsea FC (4-3-2-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry (c), A Cole; Ballack (Zhirkov 81), Mikel, Lampard; Anelka (J Cole 86), Malouda; Drogba (Kalou 90).
Unused subs Hilario, Ferreira, Alex, Deco.

Arsenal (4-3-3): Almunia; Sagna (Eboue 73), Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy; Fabregas (c), Song, Diaby (Rosicky 73); Walcott (Bendtner 65), Arshavin, Nasri.
Unused subs Fabianski, Campbell, Ramsey, Denilson.