Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba combined delectably to put Tottenham to the sword, while Sergio Aguero showed just why he is the best striker in the English Premier League at the moment with a typically brilliant brace to help Manchester City to a thumping win over Sunderland.
While Chelsea and Manchester City continue to score freely, Arsenal's struggle in front of goal shows no signs of stopping, as the Emirates crowd were treated to yet another frustrating evening, with Southampton showing their defensive discipline to hold the North London side goalless until the 88th minute. Then in stepped Arsenal's own superhero Alexis Sanchez, to pop up at the right place at the right time to stroke the ball home and give the home side a massive three points courtesy a man-that-was-leaving-it-late 1-0 win.
In the final game of the day, Everton and Hull City played out a 1-1 draw, with Sone Aluko cancelling out Romelu Lukaku's first half strike.
The game was over after 22 minutes at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea finding two goals in the space of three minutes to put Tottenham away.
The one-two punch was a little cruel on Spurs, who were much the better side in the opening 15 minutes or so, but such is Chelsea's confidence and quality at the moment that they can hurt any team, any time in the blink of an eye.
It was their main man Eden Hazard who opened the scoring for Chelsea with a typically Eden Hazard goal. The Belgian made one of those runs, played a quick one-two with Didier Drogba before firing low past Hugo Lloris at the near post on 19 minutes.
Less than three minutes later and Chelsea were 2-0 up with Drogba this time finding the back of the net himself. It was a mistake from Lloris which allowed Chelsea to score, with the Spurs goalkeeper's clearance falling straight to Hazard, who found Oscar, with the Brazilian then slipping through Drogba, who was never going to miss in that situation.
Before those goals, Tottenham, looking for their first win at Stamford Bridge since 1990, would have been good value for a lead, with Harry Kane striking the crossbar off a header and then just firing wide from an angle, and boy did Chelsea make their London rivals pay for those misses.
Loic Remy would add the icing on the cake 17 minutes from time as Chelsea asserted their dominance at the top of the Premier League table.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland looked like they might just upset Manchester City again, with Connor Wickham scoring the opening goal in the 19th minute, under fortuitous circumstances as a clearance from Pablo Zabaleta deflected off the Sunderland striker to loop past Joe Hart.
But when you have a man named Sergio Aguero in your lineup, City never need worry, and the Argentine wonder equalised after just two minutes, powering a strike into the back of the net, before Stevan Jovetic did the same six minutes from halftime to turn the game around.
Pablo Zabaleta then finished the game off in the 55th minute before his Argentine compatriot – that goalmachine – Aguero struck his second of the game to complete a satisfactory outing for Manchester City.
At the Emirates, it was the same old Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger's men, yet again, struggling to find their attacking groove against a Southampton side desperate to bounce back from the heavy loss to Manchester City at the weekend.
There were a couple of chances in the first half for both sides, with Graziano Pelle missing a nice opportunity early in the half, while Danny Welbeck, back in the central striking role with Olivier Giroud left on the bench, did the same at the other end as well.
Welbeck nearly did break the deadlock just before halftime, though, but his header off a Santi Cazorla freekick was wonderfully kept out by Fraser Forster, who did not have much else to do in the first half, but plenty more to do in the second 45, apart from making a comfortable save off a shot from former Southampton man Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Arsenal kicked up a gear in the second half, particularly after Arsene Wenger brought on Giroud just after the hour, with Welbeck forcing another brilliant save off Forster, while the French striker looked a constant threat.
However, this Arsenal side this season going forward have just not had that cutting edge often enough, and it looked like being another "haven't we been here before" day at the Emirates, only for that man Sanchez to come to the fore.
Arsenal were given a bit of a break in the final six minutes or so, with Toby Alderweireld, who had to be pushed into the defensive midfield position in the first half after an injury to Jack Cork, pulling up with a hamstring problem, and with it leaving Southampton to play with ten men as Ronaldo Koeman had already made all of his three substitutions.
Full marks should be given to Arsenal for taking full advantage, though, as the home side cranked up the pressure, with Giroud forcing another outstanding save from Forster before Sanchez struck in the first few seconds of the 89th minute.
Giroud first swung his foot at a low cross, which struck Jose Fonte on the arm, and should have been given as a penalty. However, referee Andre Marriner waved play on, and play on Aaron Ramsey, who had another "should have played better" outing, did with the midfielder cutting the ball back from the right channel for Sanchez to sweep home from ten yards and allow the Emirates to heave a collective sigh of massive relief.
Results: Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham; Arsenal 1-0 Southampton; Sunderland 1-4 Manchester City; Everton 1-1 Hull City.
