William Saliba was credited with the opening goal on 21 minutes before the Gunners were pegged back when Piero Hincapie headed into his own net on the half-time whistle.

Jurrien Timber restored the hosts' lead after 66 minutes and ultimately secured the win, as Chelsea were forced to see out the final 20 minutes with 10 men after Pedro Neto was dismissed.

The result saw Mikel Arteta's table-topping side remain five points clear of Manchester City, who overcame Leeds United 1-0 on Saturday.

It was a lively start to the game, and the home side could well have gone ahead inside two minutes. Sanchez slipped with the ball at his feet and came close to conceding possession to Viktor Gyokeres before recovering to hack the ball clear.

Chelsea were also close to an early opener from a 10th-minute free-kick, but Ismaila Sarr failed to sort out his feet and slashed the ball wide of the target.

Eberechi Eze then spotted Sanchez off his goal line and attempted to beat him from just inside the halfway line, but the keeper recovered his position to make a comfortable catch.

However, the goalkeeper stood no chance of keeping the ball out of his net soon after, as Sarr inadvertently headed in from his own goal line on 21 minutes. A Declan Rice corner was acrobatically won by Gabriel at the far post and sent back across the face of goal, where Saliba's flick hit Sarr and crossed the line.

Chelsea had strong appeals for a penalty waved away after Rice appeared to handle the ball inside the box but were nevertheless soon level from another own goal. Reece James' corner was expertly delivered to the near post, and Hincapie misdirected his defensive header past Arsenal stopper David Raya and into the net.

The first shot on target of the day arrived in the 51st minute, with Enzo Fernandez drawing an excellent low save from Raya.

Raya then made another fine stop to deny Joao Pedro from heading his side into the lead from a 53rd-minute corner.

Arsenal were struggling to cope with Chelsea's attack, and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta responded by replacing Leandro Trossard with Gabriel Martinelli.

They remained under pressure from Chelsea in open play but were lethal from set-pieces as they retook the lead. Timber rose highest from another Rice corner, amid protests of a push on the goalkeeper, to head home and spark wild celebrations from the home fans.

It went from bad to worse for the visitors as Chelsea were reduced to 10 men on 70 minutes. Neto picked up a second yellow card for a challenge on Martinelli as he tracked back following an underhit corner and quick counterattack.

The Blues had posed a threat before the red card but were largely on the back foot for the remainder of the match.

Eze, who had been relatively quiet in the second half, fizzed a low diagonal drive towards the bottom left corner, but Sanchez did well to make the save.

There were several changes from both managers as the match drew to a close. Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia replaced Andrey Santos and Jorrel Hato, while Rice and Gyokeres made way for Christian Norgaard and Kai Havertz.

Chelsea's final throw of the dice saw Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap come on for Cole Palmer and Fernandez.

After dominating much of the match, it was a nervy finish for the Gunners as they opted to sit back and allow Chelsea onto them. It nearly backfired in stoppage time when a searching ball from substitute Garnacho almost crept in at the far post, but Raya somehow clawed it away from goal.

Chelsea even had the ball in the net in the sixth minute of injury time, but the goal was ruled out for offside, much to the relief of the Arsenal faithful and manager Arteta, as they claimed a crucial three points in their race for the title.

Pep Guardiola 'more focused' on Manchester United FA Cup final