A first-half strike from Leandro Trossard had The Gunners in front, before second-half braces from Kai Havertz and Ben White put the gloss on proceedings.
Flying Start
Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu both came into the side in place of Gabriel Jesus and Jakub Kiwior respectively, and Arsenal looked to make a fast start to proceedings.
After just four minutes, they had the breakthrough that they craved. Declan Rice drove forward with the ball before sliding it left to Trossard, who controlled and hit a low shot into the near post. The perfect opening.
Rice came close to adding a second with a curling effort from the edge of the box, before Chelsea threatened when Nicolas Jackson's cross was deflected onto the post by Gabriel.
Arsenal continued to seek a second goal, and Havertz was denied by a smart stop by Djordje Petrovic, before the ball was recycled to Trossard to force another save from the Chelsea goalkeeper.
Despite Arsenal's dominance, Chelsea were looking threatening on the counter and almost found a leveller through Enzo Fernandez. Noni Madueke got to the byline and drilled a ball across the box. The ball fell to Marc Cucurella whose shot was blocked, before Enzo placed a low shot narrowly wide.
Dominant Gunners
Arsenal came out for the second half and it was clear they wanted to kill the game off. Martin Odegaard, taking centre stage, played a delightful pass through for Havertz, who was denied from close range by Petrovic.
From the resulting corner though, Arsenal had the crucial second. Rice found space on the edge of the box and hit a shot towards the far post. The ball deflected kindly into the path of White to calmly roll the ball into the far corner.
Moments later and it was three. Odegaard placed an expertly weighted pass in behind the the Chelsea defence for Havertz to stride onto and finish with aplomb. The Emirates exploded and now it was a case of how many Arsenal wanted.
Havertz, playing against his former club, was proving a nuisance to his ex-employers, and in the 65th minute he made his mark again. Bukayo Saka worked his way inside, played a simple pass to the German, who composed himself before striking a left-footed effort off the near post and in.
Just five minutes later and the rout was complete. Odegaard, once again at the heart, chipped the ball over the Chelsea defence for White to volley a cross-come-shot into the top corner to grab his second of the evening. His face said it all!
Mikel Arteta took the opportunity to ring the changes and naturally the flow of the game slowed, but Arsenal still maintained an attacking threat. Gabriel Martinelli almost added a sixth late on, but the hosts would have to make do with five.
Title Race Hotting Up
Arsenal can now sit back and see what their title rivals can come up with over the next couple of nights. With Liverpool facing a Merseyside Derby and Manchester City travelling to Brighton, they will hope that one or both could drop points.
The Gunners though face arguably their toughest test of their run in with a trip to Tottenham for the North London Derby on Sunday. A win there could really ignite belief that this could be their year.
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