That suspicion was confirmed when Olivier Giroud missed an excellent chance and Chelsea struck clinically on the counter-attack through Juan Mata. Cesar Azpilicueta also deserved considerable credit for his defence-splitting through ball that exposed the gaping hole between Sagna and Mertesacker in the Arsenal defence.
Wenger was apoplectic, not so much at defending of his team, but a blatant mistake from referee Martin Atkinson in missing Ramires' late tackle on Francis Coquelin that had begun Chelsea's attack.
There was further controversy for Chelsea's second but, once again, also some terrible Arsenal defending. Mertesacker continued to find himself sucked, almost schoolboy style, towards the ball, with Mata exploiting Sagna's positional indiscipline to put Ramires clear on goal.
Szczesny, who was also partially culpable for the first, went to ground, with Ramires knocking the ball past the Arsenal goalkeeper and then just glancing his leg before going down. It appeared that the only point of debate would be whether Atkinson should sent off Szczesny as well as award the penalty, but replays suggested that Ramires had deliberately moved his leg towards Szzcesny just before contact.
Atkinson sided with Ramires in awarding a penalty but, having made that decision, was generous in allowing Szczesny to escape with a booking. Lampard, inevitable, converted the penalty and it seemed that the main interest for the rest of the afternoon would be whether Arsenal were humiliated or merely beaten. In singing 'Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay', it seemed that Chelsea supporters were already confident of the latter.
Chelsea remained dominant but, in spite of overrunning Arsenal in central midfield, they were again being repeatdely let down by Torres and some dreadful finishing. And that lack of certainty, confidence and killer instinct gradually seeped through the team.
Clearly mindful of wasting a 2-0 lead against Southampton last Tuesday, Chelsea found themselves inexplicably pinned back throughout a nervy second-half.
Mertesacker and Walcott had both tested Cech shortly after the re-start before Chelsea's lead was deservedly halved. Santi Cazorla, who had been virtually anonymous until that point, spotted Walcott lurking on the shoulder of Branislav Ivanovic and delivered a perfectly-timed pass. Walcott's pace ensured a clear run at goal and, demonstrating the calmness in front of goal that has persuaded Wenger to make him the club's highest-paid player, he brilliantly opened up his body and side-footed the ball past Cech.
Chelsea were now clinging on, with Benitez promoting the only cheer for Chelsea fans during the second-half by finally replacing Torres with Demba Ba. His impact was immediate. With Sagna and Szczesny again caught out of position, he was clear on goal and only denied only by a goal-line clearance from Thomas Vermaelen.
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