Chelsea's faltering Premier League title defence suffered a fresh jolt as Arsenal romped to a 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The Blues have suffered an alarming dip in form and they began the busy festive period on the back foot as goals from Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott secured victory for the Gunners and rendered Branislav Ivanovic's header nothing more than a consolation.

Arsenal dominated possession for much of the first half and it took the brilliance, and 6ft 5in frame, of Petr Cech to deny Samir Nasri the opener as the Czech keeper stretched to his right to push a chip over the bar. But the keeper had no answer moments before half time as Arsenal worked the ball through a scrum of bodies in the box and Song lashed an unerring shot into the bottom corner.

Chelsea's hopes of hitting back were dealt a blow as Michael Essien put in a fine tackle on Robin van Persie but was unfortunate to see it fall to Theo Walcott who showed great awareness to lay a pass off to Fabregas who slotted the ball into an empty net.

The Blues had no time to clear their heads, as Florent Malouda was caught in possession and Fabregas turned provider for Walcott and the youngster slammed the ball beyond a helpless Cech.

18590 - Arsenal beat Chelsea in style

Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea hope when glancing in Didier Drogba's excellent free kick with over 30 minutes remaining, but Arsenal held firm for a vital three points.