O. Giroud has scored a goal for Arsenal! Assist by Nacho Monreal.
Monreal has been Arsenal's best player today and gets an assist for his troubles.
GOALL!!! CONSOLATION FOR THE GUNNERS! Giroud stoops at the near post to head Monreal's cross at goal and his effort creeps through the hands of Courtois to find the net.
90'
OVER! Costa takes possession on the left flank and drives forward in an attempt to get on the scoresheet himsef. He has support but takes the shot on from a tight angle, blazing his effort over.
There will be three minutes of added time.
89'
CHANCE! Alonso latches on to Fabregas' cross in an attempt to notch his second of the game, but Cech jumps to catch his looping header.
88'
K. Zouma enters the game and replaces V. Moses.
Moses is withdrawn late in the game for Zouma.
85'
Cesc Fàbregas has scored a goal for Chelsea!
GOALLL!!!! IT'S THREE FOR CHELSEA! A disaster for Cech as he miscues his clearance straight to Fabregas. To rub salt into the wound the former Arsenal captain scores against his old club by simply lofting the ball over the keeper and into the net. Game over!
84'
Willian enters the game and replaces Pedro.
Cesc Fàbregas enters the game and replaces E. Hazard.
Hazard makes way for Fabregas.
Pedro has put in a good shift and now makes way for Willian.
82'
Arsenal are running out of ideas in the final third. They've had their chances to get back into the game, but have been unable to convert in front of goal.
80'
Costa carries the ball downfield and has Hazard to hit in the middle of the box, but takes his time and can only win a corner on the left flank.
79'
WIDE! Sanchez lifts the ball itno the box from the resulting corner and Mustafi gets a march on his marker and guides a header towards goal, only to miss the target.
Minute
Description
78'
SAVE! Welbeck guides a header from Sanchez's cross from the right towards the bottom corner. It looks goalbound, but Courtois gets down low to his right to palm the ball past the post. A great stop from the Belgian.
76'
Chelsea may just have to be careful here as they've taken their foot off the gas a little bit. A third goal may be needed to kill of the contest.
74'
Oxlade-Chamberlain slides the ball into the feet of Welbeck in the box and the striker lays the ball back, but there's no red shirt behind him to collect.
73'
Gabriel catches Hazard with a stray arm and sends the Belgian tumbling to the deck. That was not a good look for the Arsenal defender.
72'
Sanchez is brought down and the Gunners win a free-kick, but it's wasted as the flag goes up against Giroud in the box.
70'
N. Matić gets yellow.
D. Welbeck enters the game and replaces T. Walcott.
Welbeck comes on for the final 20 minutes as Wenger goes all out.
Matic brings down Oxlade-Chamberlain and goes into the book.
68'
Luiz almost has the freedom of the Arsenal box to shoot, but there's a reason for that as he is flagged offside.
66'
Gabriel does well covering at the back for the Gunners as he sweeps Pedro's threatening cross out for a corner. It has been a tide of pressure from Chelsea in the second half.
65'
O. Giroud enters the game and replaces F. Coquelin.
Coquelin makes way for Giroud as Wenger sets his stall out to attack for the final 25 minutes.
62'
Alonso takes a whack in the back of the head from his own team-mate as Luiz wipes him out on the edge of the box.
61'
Arsenal are throwing caution to the wind here and committing a lot of men forward, but it has left them very exposed at the back. Hazard almost releases Pedro, but Koscielny cuts out his pass.
59'
Moses breaks again down the right and attempts to lift the ball to the left edge of the box for Costa to attack, but Mustafi clears it away under huge pressure.
57'
Cahill has to be alert to stop Walcott bursting in behind him and the defender does just enough to block his strike behind for a corner.
56'
Moses takes the ball down the right wing on a forward surge before he attempts to pick out Costa in the box. However, the ball just doesn't fall for the forward as he attempts to volley at goal.
55'
Arsenal press back and force a corner on the left flank, but the home side clear the danger with ease.
53'
E. Hazard has scored a goal for Chelsea!
GOALLL!!! HAZARD SCORES A STUNNER! The Belgian collects the ball in the centre circle and weaves his way past one challenge before speeding past Coquelin. He drives into the box and bamboozles Koscielny with his skill before firing his strike past Cech. An outstanding finish to double Chelsea's lead.
52'
What a start to the half from Kante as he steals the ball again and this time does play in Costa, only for the striker to be flagged offside.
51'
Kante wins the ball back again for the home side and tees up Hazard 25 yards from goal. The forward twists and turns to fire at goal, but can only blast his effort over the bar.
49'
Kante whips the ball away in the middle of the park and drives forward following a misplaced pass from Koscielny. He tries to release Costa, but has second thoughts at the last moment, although the Frenchman retains possession.
47'
Hazard almost latches on to Costa's throughball, but Koscielny comes across at the last moment with a sliding challenge to take the ball away from the Belgian.
46'
We're back underway at Stamford Bridge.
45' +5
The referee brings the first half to an end.
45' +4
No they can't as Pedro slips and knocks the ball out for a goal-kick.
45' +3
Chelsea earn a corner left with seconds remaining int he half. Can they get the second goal before the break?
45' +2
CHANCE! Coquelin finds Ozil in all sorts of space in the right inside channel. The German cuts back on to his left foot to shoot, but his eventual strike is tame and saved by Courtois.
45'
Mustafi does well under pressure to prevent a corner after Pedro almost broke through the Arsenal backline. The Gunners need to see out the half without conceding again.
There will be four minutes of added time.
43'
Pedro misses a golden opportunity to release Costa's run in behind the Arsenal defence, but Koscielny makes the interception to stop the attack.
41'
Hazard and Pedro almost link-up in the final third as the Belgian dummies the ball to allow the winger to take possession. However, his attempted throughball for Hazard goes straight to Cech.
39'
The Gunners keep the pressure on from the resulting corner, but Coquelin's strike from the edge of the box is deflected straight into the hands of Courtois.
38'
CHANCE! Arsenal should be level as Gabriel has a free header at goal from Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross, but he heads straight at Courtois, who makes a decent stop. However, the Gunners defender had space and time to pick his spot.
36'
Wenger's men battle back with a spell of pressure of their own, but they still haven't forced a save from Courtois thus far into the contest.
34'
The pressure is well and truly on the Arsenal defence here and even Sanchez is forced to get back to help out his team-mates. Chelsea are sending cross after cross into the box to test the Gunners' resolve.
32'
SHOT! Alonso collects on the left flank and plays the ball back across the box to Pedro. The Spaniard shoots first time, and although his effort lacks power Cech is still forced to turn the ball behind for a corner.
30'
CHANCE! Chelsea break on the counter and Hazard releases Costa inside. The striker has support from Pedro, who is free on the right flank, but he opts to go alone and loses possession on the edge of the box.
29'
The Gunners have a chance to threaten from a free-kick on the left as Monreal is brought down by Moses.
27'
Hazard leaves Walcott for dead on the left flank and plays the ball to Matic to send the ball into the box, but there are enough Arsenal shirts at the back post to clear the danger.
25'
Arsenal clear the danger from the free-kick, but Chelsea retain possession in the final third and are probing as Hazard returns to the pitch.
24'
A sore one for Hazard as he gets hit right on the knee. That could be a dead leg that may take a little while to run off.
23'
S. Mustafi gets yellow.
Hazard beats Mustafi for pace down the left flank and the German is forced to bring down the Chelsea forward. Referee Atkinson has no choice but to book the Arsenal man.
21'
Matic plays a neat inside pass for Costa's run, but on this occasion the striker is fractionally offside.
19'
CHANCE! Costa weaves his way through one challenge to burst into the right inside channel. The striker goes for the shot from a tight angle, but can only blast his effort into the side-netting. Cech appeared to have his angles covered anyway at the near post.
18'
Arsenal win a succession of corners and the second falls to Coquelin on the edge of the box. He goes for a strike with the outside of his boot, but sends his effort narrowly over the bar.
17'
Gabriel Paulista enters the game and replaces Héctor Bellerín.
Gabriel replaces Bellerin following the nasty collision with Alonso.
16'
Walcott makes a surge down the right flank and wins a corner off the legs of Cahill. The Gunners need a response here.
15'
Bellerin hit the deck hard after losing his header against Alonso and has required treatment on the pitch. He may have to go off here as Gabriel goes through his warm-up.
13'
Marcos Alonso has scored a goal for Chelsea!
GOALLL!!!! CHELSEA TAKE THE LEAD! Alonso heads home from close range as he outbattles Bellerin in the box to power his effort past Cech. Costa caused the damage as his powerful header from Pedro's cross left Cech stranded, allowing his team-mate to capitalise.
12'
Moses makes an error from a clearance and it puts Luiz under huge pressure from Iwobi and Sanchez, but he goes just enough to get it away from the box.
11'
Coquelin makes the decision to wipe out Costa on the right flank and the Blues win a free-kick in a decent position.
CHANCE! Cahill rises at the back post to meet Azpilicueta's cross from the right, but he heads the ball into the ground and it takes a steep bounce to sail over the bar.
10'
Ozil is played into space on the left flank and has time to lift a cross into the box. He goes for placement rather than power, but his cutback is cleared by Matic.
8'
Sanchez holds off a tackle from Kante and attempts to slide a throughball into Walcott, but the England man moves too soon and is caught offside.
7'
The Gunners are not sitting back here as they are pressuring the Chelsea backline at every opportunity. It's already led to one mistake from Courtois and appears to be unnerving the back three.
6'
Arsenal enjoy an early spell of possession, but a lofted ball forward for Walcott's run travels straight into the hands of Courtois.
4'
The Gunners see off the danger of back-to-back corners from Chelsea with solid defending. A great start to this contest from both teams.
3'
Chelsea turn defence into attack immediately from the Arsenal corner as Kante releases Pedro down the flank. The Spaniard wins a corner for the home side.
2'
WIDE! A huge mistake from Courtois presents the ball straight to Ozil. The German picks out Iwobi on the edge of the box to fire at goal, but his strike is deflected just wide of the post. A let off for the Belgian keeper.
Chelsea subs: Begovic, Fabregas, Zouma, Willian, Terry, Batshuayi, Chalobah.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Diego Costa, Hazard.
The team news has been announced and we'll start with the home side.
Arsenal's loss has left them with a mountain to climb to get back into the title race, starting this afternoon against the Blues.
The Gunners suffered a shocking setback in their defeat to Watford at the Emirates. Wenger's men conceded two poor first goals in the first half and were unable to mount a strong enough comeback to snatch a point, despite Alex Iwobi's strike.
Chelsea proved their mettle during the week by claiming a point against Liverpool at Anfield, although Antonio Conte will feel that his side should have clinched the win as Diego Costa missed from the penalty spot in the second half.
This contest could go a long way in deciding the Premier League title as a victory for the Blues would put them 12 points clear of the Gunners in third place. As a result, Arsene Wenger's men can ill afford a defeat this afternoon.
Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal subs: Gibbs, Gabriel, Giroud, Ospina, Welbeck, Reine-Adelaide, Maitland-Niles.
Chelsea have made one change from their draw with Liverpool. Pedro comes back into the side to replace Willian as part of a three-pronged attack alongside Eden Hazard and Costa.
Arsenal have made three changes to their side from their defeat to Watford. Olivier Giroud, Gabriel Paulista drop to the bench, while Aaron Ramsey misses out due to injury. As a result, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hector Bellerin and Theo Walcott all return to the starting line-up.
It was Chelsea's 3-0 hammering at the hands of Arsenal that prompted Conte to change his formation to the 3-4-3 system that has served the Blues so well this term. The Gunner seem a million miles away from their form of that day. What Wenger would give fora repeat performance from his team.
STAT ATTACK! Arsenal last did the double over Chelsea in the 2003/04 campaign when they last won the Premier League title.
STAT ATTACK! Three Arsenal players have been dismissed in their last three visits to Stamford Bridge - Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs and Santi Cazorla.
Wenger will continue his touchline ban this afternoon and will be surrounded by Chelsea fans in the Stamford Bridge crowd.
The players are out on the pitch, so we should be underway shortly.
HALF-TIME: CHELSEA 1-0 ARSENAL
Chelsea take a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to Marcos Alonso's header in the 13th minute. The game has been fairly even as Arsenal have had their chances to draw level, with Gabriel and Mesut Ozil missing late chances, but Antonio Conte's men remain in control.
The players are back out on the pitch, so we should be underway shortly.
FULL-TIME: CHELSEA 3-1 ARSENAL
The Gunners suffer back-to-back defeats for the second time in the campaign and are now locked in a battle to secure their place in the top four, while Antonio Conte's men need only to remain on the path to secure the crown.
Chelsea take a huge stride towards the Premier League title as they go 12 points clear at the top of the table. Goals from Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas secure a comfortable win over Arsenal, who did not seem up for the fight this afternoon.
Thanks for joining our commentary this afternoon. Until next time, goodbye.
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