Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0

By Mark Bradley, PA Sport Chief Soccer Writer

Even the publicly pessimistic Arsene Wenger will surely now be forced to concede that his Arsenal side are genuine title challengers.

Success at Highbury against Chelsea - many people's favourites for the title - not only erased memories of the Blues' 5-0 Worthington Cup victory just before Christmas; it also moved the champions just one point behind Gianluca Vialli's team and there were triumphant scenes at the final whistle that showed just how much this victory meant to the Arsenal players and fans.

While all the pre-match attention had focused on the multitude of Frenchmen on display, the match-winner proved to be a Dutchman, with Dennis Bergkamp scoring his eighth goal of the season on 31 minutes.

It brought to an end Chelsea's incredible 21-match unbeaten run in the Premiership since defeat at Coventry on the opening day of the season. Not only are Arsenal's injury problems easing, with David Seaman back in goal, but in the six games since he last appeared at Aston Villa on December 13, they have picked up 16 points.

Wenger has studiously attempted to play down his side's title chances over recent weeks, presenting a mirror image of his supposed realism at the same stage of last season before they cruised remorselessly towards the Double.

Arsenal may have been unable to truly impose themselves on London rivals Chelsea but their defence is as assured as ever, coping with everything that a Chelsea side who have stuttered over recent weeks could throw at them.

They even managed to avoid a further addition to their lengthy red card list, even if Bergkamp could now miss their meeting with Manchester United next month after picking up another booking.

Encounters between the two sides over the past two seasons have been packed with incident, with three players sent off and a further 35 bookings.

True to form, referee Graham Poll showed yellow cards within the opening four minutes to both Frank Leboeuf and Bergkamp, while Dan Petrescu soon followed and Ray Parlour had a narrow escape. But amid the fearsome challenges, there was little else to recommend the game early on as Chelsea, without the injured Albert Ferrer, appeared to have sealed the early cracks in their defence.

A mistake by Frank Leboeuf did open the way for Bergkamp but the striker's shot was straight at De Goey, who shortly afterwards tipped an effort by Marc Overmars around the post. There was little time for any player to settle on the ball in a congested midfield even without the presence of Patrick Vieira due to suspension, and inspiration was at a premium.

It was duly left to Bergkamp to bring the match to life just after the half-hour mark after the deep-lying Petit had opened up Chelsea's normally reliable defence. Petrescu was unable to cope with the Frenchman's long pass forward and crumpled under the attention of Overmars, deflecting the ball as he fell over into the path of Bergkamp, who calmly shot first-time into the far corner.

Petrescu was still complaining heavily that he had not been awarded a free-kick, while Dennis Wise argued with Martin Keown, when Bergkamp courted controversy with a foul on Duberry. Referee Poll did not deem it worthy of a second booking but Duberry had to be carried off on a stretcher to be replaced by Bjarne Goldbaek as Chelsea reshuffled, bringing Marcel Desailly back into defence.

At least this gave the Blues more natural width down the right flank and when Goldbaek's cross was missed by Keown, Lee Dixon hurriedly cleared at the far post as Celestine Babayaro threatened.

While Gianfranco Zola was being kept uncharacteristically quiet, Bergkamp continued to provide the game's brightest moments. One superb crossfield ball by him to Overmars almost set up the winger just before the break, only for Petrescu to recover to tackle.

Bergkamp almost broke through himself after the restart but as Desailly claimed handball against him as he flicked on Ray Parlour's pass, the Dutchman lost control and De Goey was out in time to block his path to goal.

At last runs were being made with more purpose, passes were reaching their intended targets and play flowed from end to end. Seaman was finally called into action to tip a drive from Roberto Di Matteo over the bar and it took a wonderful recovery from the ubiquitous Petit to cut out a cross from Gianluca Vialli as Chelsea broke with purpose.

The Blues were now pressing forward with increasing determination and Keown had to block shots from Petrescu and then Vialli inside the penalty area.

Arsenal's own attacking options were reduced when defender Nelson Vivas replaced Nicolas Anelka on 67 minutes, although there was an appeal for handball in the penalty area against Desailly which was firmly turned down.

The changes continued with two debutants entering the fray - teenager Mikael Forssell replacing Zola, and Arsenal's new signing Kaba Diawara on for Overmars.

But as Dennis Wise was crowded out late on, the last-gasp Chelsea challenge that has brought them injury-time wins against Aston Villa and Coventry, as well as an FA Cup lifeline at Oxford, for once failed to materialise. Finally, Chelsea had met their match.

Teams:

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Adams, Winterburn, Parlour, Garde, Petit, Overmars (Diawara 75), Anelka (Vivas 67), Bergkamp (Upson 90).

Subs Not Used: Ljungberg, Manninger.

Booked: Bergkamp, Keown.

Goals: Bergkamp 32.

Chelsea: De Goey, Leboeuf, Desailly, Duberry (Goldbaek 38), Petrescu, Di Matteo, Wise, Le Saux, Babayaro, Vialli, Zola (Forssell 74).

Subs Not Used: Terry, Hitchcock, Morris.

Booked: Leboeuf, Petrescu, Goldbaek.

Att: 38,121

Ref: G Poll (Tring).