Arsenal turn the tables as Chelsea's frailties are exposed

Robin van Persie scored a hat-trick as Arsenal ran riot at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal

This is a season of extraordinary scorelines.

There was Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal, Tottenham 1-5 Manchester City, Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City and to that list you can now add Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal.

It may not be so great for fans of great defending but it is thrilling for the neutral looking to simply be swept along by a game of football.

This game at Stamford Bridge is a very early (and worthy) contender for game of the season.

Not many gave Arsenal a prayer of getting anything at Chelsea but on the day, in an attacking sense at least, they were sublime.

Their much-discussed mental frailties did not come to the fore, as the Arsenal of a month ago would probably have crumbled after Juan Mata made it 3-3 with 10 minutes left and found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-3 scoreline. Perhaps they have turned a corner.

Yet again, Robin van Persie was the difference.

Where would Arsenal be without him?

He now has 28 goals in 27 Premier League games in 2011 and his hat-trick at Stamford Bridge further underlined his status as one of the leading lights in world football.

van Persie terrorised the defenders and goalkeeper throughout

He was given a little bit of help from Chelsea's defenders and goalkeeper Petr Cech, consistently beaten at his near post, but van Persie was the best player on the pitch throughout and he thoroughly deserved his hat-trick.

Arsenal must do everything in their power to extend his contract now, before the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid come sniffing.

He was by no means Arsenal's only standout performer though.

Aaron Ramsey was sensational in midfield while Theo Walcott produced some outstanding wing-play.

This was one of Walcott's best performances in an Arsenal shirt, constantly menacing and running at Chelsea's defence, and he capped off his display with a deserved goal to put the Gunners 3-2 up.

Quite how he scored remains a mystery, as the danger should have been cleared when he slipped and was surrounded by three Chelsea players.

He was allowed to pick himself up though, keep hold of the ball and run straight in on goal, before beating Cech at his near post. It was a catalogue of errors from all concerned, but credit to Walcott for his tenacity.

Walcott capitalised on Chelsea hesitancy to weave his way to the goal to put Arsenal 3-2 up

Gervinho was a constant threat while Mikel Arteta was a calming influence in the centre.

Laurent Koscielny was the only defender on the pitch to have a good game and he didn't deserve to be in a side which conceded three times, but if it wasn't for him Arsenal could have conceded far more.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the visitors though and, certainly defensively, Arsene Wenger's side still have a lot of work to do.

The two full-backs leave so much space in behind, Per Mertesacker still looks suspect with his positioning and lack of pace while the defence as a whole is slit open far too often for a team at this level.

Chelsea could have scored many more than three, particularly in the early exchanges of the first half, and if Daniel Sturridge in particular had been more clinical there would have been a very different outcome.

This game was not all about Arsenal, though.

Chelsea more than played their part in this classic, for good and for bad.

Firstly, let's talk about the good.

Juan Mata was exceptional, regularly carving Arsenal open and scoring a superb goal to make it 3-3, while some of Chelsea's approach play early on was sensational.

Mata got his deserved goal with a superb strike, with Chelsea looking the most likely to win at that point

However, they only have themselves to blame for the defeat.

Their full-backs were given a torrid time, with Ashley Cole destroyed by Walcott and Jose Bosingwa regularly found wanting defensively.

The defence always looked shaky and had a number of close offside calls go their way before van Persie cancelled out Frank Lampard's opener on 36 minutes, with John Terry not looking the lynchpin he once was and Branislav Ivanovic looking out of his depth alongside him.

Andre Santos' goal to hand Arsenal a second equaliser - after Terry had scored on the stroke of half-time as Chelsea retook the lead - further emphasised that.

The Brazilian left-back got in behind an out-of-position Bosingwa before becoming the first to beat Cech at his near post.

There were then calls for Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to be sent off after a foul on Ashley Cole outside the area, before Walcott scored his amazing goal despite being surrounded by three Chelsea players when he was on the floor.

Mata delivered his late equaliser only for van Persie to capitalise on more woeful Chelsea defending with just five minutes remaining.

A terrible back-pass from Florent Malouda left John Terry with a difficult task, running towards his own goal and giving chase to the electrifying van Persie, but the England captain confounded this by slipping and giving the Dutchman the simplest of chances.

He rounded Cech to give Arsenal a 4-3 lead and Chelsea only had themselves to blame.

van Persie kept his composure to round Cech and finish with ease

van Persie rounded it off in stoppage time after Arteta found him on the edge of the area, before he let off a stinging shot which shouldn't have beaten Cech - again at his near post - but did.

It was a catastrophic defensive showing from Chelsea which stemmed from the attacking philosophy of manager Andre Villas-Boas.

His side has been so open at times this season it has been ridiculous.

It is refreshing to see the Portuguese manager's attacking approach but he has overdone it at times, perhaps trying to distinguish himself from Jose Mourinho.

It is like Villas-Boas is scared of being compared to Mourinho and his style of football, but he certainly needs to instil more solidity in his Chelsea team or their title challenge will be over before it has even begun.

Chelsea have not looked so bad defensively since before Mourinho's days at the club, ironic given Villas-Boas was initially seen as a 'mini-Mourinho'.

His side have now lost two Premier League games in a row after last week's tempestuous loss at QPR, and it now looks like they will face a battle to simply hold onto their top four slot.

Villas-Boas has paid the price for his expansive playing style

They have been far too open and naive, particularly against Arsenal, and they are now just three points ahead of the side from the Emirates Stadium, who were until recently described as a 'crisis' club.

Too many individuals were not at their game for Chelsea.

Terry was poor, perhaps affected by the racism allegations of this week, nothing Sturridge did seemed to come off, John Obi Mikel did not offer an effective screen in front of the defence and Fernando Torres was quiet and disinterested. Villas-Boas already has a big job on his hands to turn this around.

Chelsea were guilty of spurning gilt-edged chances but so were Arsenal.

It was like a game of basketball at times and could have been any score: 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, but Arsenal were the deserving winners and seem to be back on track now.

Any talk of them being in title contention is premature as they face a monumental task to simply finish in the top four, and in a sense this result doesn't change too much.

Everyone knew about their attacking qualities and their defence was on the whole as bad as ever at Stamford Bridge, so there is still much to work on.

The top sides are clearly not as far away as some thought though so a 16th straight season for Arsene Wenger's side in the Champions League may not be out of the question.

The way Arsenal's players celebrated after the final whistle demonstrated the magnitude of the result

With Wenger's philosophy of football, he will have loved the game for its end-to-end nature and both teams going for it, and he will be even more delighted Arsenal came out on top.

On their day, Arsenal can destroy anyone and with van Persie in this sort of form, nothing is impossible.

Chelsea will have been embarrassed to concede five times at home, and rightly so.

Arsenal taught them a lesson and thoroughly deserved the win - although it could easily have ended as a draw - and there is much for Villas-Boas to ponder.

He has introduced a new, ultra-expansive style at Stamford Bridge but at what price?

It was a thrilling game for all neutrals though, with all emphasis placed on attack.

Arsenal are back and producing the sort of football we all long to see, and long may that continue. The confidence they will gain from this result could be enough to set them on their way to a good run of form.

Both sides must surely realise though that some of the defending on show was simply diabolical and will need addressing if either are to have successful seasons.