"I want only tomorrow or after tomorrow for the referee to look at the television and say 'sorry,'" Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "I don't want three points, I only want this 'sorry.'

"My team after this lost concentration. The offside killed my team. I lost today because one goal is not a goal.

One goal changed the game."

If his first goal involved luck, there was none surrounding his second three minutes later. Emmanuel Adebayor headed Cesc Fabregas' free kick to Van Persie's feet, and the Netherlands striker turned to shoot through Frank Lampard's legs and into the far corner.

With Emmanuel Eboue and Abou Diaby on the sidelines, the Gunners were unable for long stretches to compete physically.

Emboldened by Chelsea's defensive lapses, they suddenly looked more like the side that beat Manchester United on November 8 rather than the one which lost has lost to Manchester City, Aston Villa and Stoke this month.

"It's a massive win for us because we had just lost two games," Wenger said. "To lose today would have put us 13 points adrift. It would have been too much."

Chelsea has taken just one point at home against the other members of England's so-called "Big Four" and has to visit Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the second half of the season.

In Manchester, Rooney ended a six-week goal drought as the European champions took on their neighbors for the first time since Man City was bought by a wealthy group from the United Arab Emirates.

... contd.