Arsenal maintained their position at the top of the league table by sneaking through a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in their Premier League clash on Sunday.

William Gallas grabbed the winner against his former club with a header on the stroke of half time leaving Chelsea with their first defeat against Arsenal since February 2004. The defeat leaves Chelsea six points behind Arsenal at the top of the table and ends the 16 match unbeaten streak that the Blues had enjoyed under Avram Grant.

Arsenal started the match intent on proving that they deserve to be counted as title challengers and while both the teams showed some good passing moves, neither of them were able to create any real chances.

Chelsea received a blow in the 38th minute when John Terry limped off the field after injuring his toe by Emmanuel Eboue's tackle. Terry's absence proved costly for the Blues as Arsenal took the lead on stroke of half time thanks to an uncharacteristic error by Petr Cech.

The Chelsea goalkeeper rushed forward to punch Cesc Fabregas' corner but was left grasping thin air, allowing Gallas to head home from close range to put Arsenal in the lead. With Drogba not available, Chelsea looked short of quality up front though they managed to test Almunia with some decent efforts in the second half.

Shaun Wright-Phillips had the best chance of the second half to equalize for Chelsea but somehow managed to miss the target from six yards out. And with seconds remaining before the final whistle, Almunia pulled off a great save to tip Shevchenko's free kick to collect all three points for Arsenal.

Arsenal’s win and Manchester United’s win over Liverpool means that unless these two teams trip during Christmas, it’s going to be a two-way race for the Premiership this season.