William Gallas accepted the compliments of the season from his old club Chelsea in the feistiest of London derbies at the Emirates Stadium.
The Arsenal captain cashed in on an uncharacteristic error from Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech on the stroke of half-time to head home the only goal of a pulsating match which proved conclusively that Arsene Wenger's men have what it takes to stay the course in what is turning into the most intriguing of Premier League title races.
The victory took Arsenal back to the top, a position they had relinquished for a couple of hours following Manchester United's triumph against Liverpool at Anfield. But they were made to battle all the way.
If ever there was a match which proved the thunderous appeal and total commitment of the Barclays Premier League then it was this one.
It was a match in which Arsenal employed their pleasing patterns, Fabregas and Hleb always at the heart of the creation and Emmanuel Adebayor a constant threat while Chelsea were content to soak up pressure and rely on the quick counter.
lasting damage
Strangely, however, in the first half especially it was Arsenal's Manuel Almunia who was the busier goalkeeper.
One deflected shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips saw him make a spectacular flying save and a savagely swerving 25-yarder from Andriy Shevchenko saw him add another equally effective parry to his portfolio.
Emmanuel Eboue saw yellow for a challenge on John Terry, which left the Chelsea defender hobbling from what was feared to be a broken metatarsal, though manager Avram Grant insisted this was not the case.
Terry attempted to continue but it was soon clear lasting damage had been done and he was replaced in the 38th minute by Israel's Tal Ben Haim.
truly frantic
Grant no doubt hoped to regroup in the dressing room but his plans were dashed by Gallas' header on the stroke of half-time.
Fabregas' swinging corner should have been an easy catch for Cech but somehow he contrived to get underneath the ball and succeeded only in waving it by to see the unmarked Gallas head the ball into the empty net for his third league goal of the season.
Shaun Wright-Phillips should have scored when he skewed wide from three yards but Robin van Persie, on for Eboue, might have extended Arsenal's lead if he had not fired over following the most flowing move of the match.
The finale was truly frantic. Van Persie had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside, while a thunderous injury-time free-kick from Shevchenko was turned over by Almunia.
Then right at the death Fabregas should have scored but was immediately booked for a poor tackle on Ashley Cole.
