HE who pays the piper calls the tune in time. But if Sky was banking on a full blooded London derby to justify switching this game to 11.15 a.m. it was caught napping.
Chelsea were awful enough to earn a scathing attack from Ruud Gullit, who directed his anger at the reserves for not making the most of their call ups, labelling their display, "the most embarrassing since I've been here."
But this was a harsh condemnation given that Chelsea were missing the heart of their side, Roberto Di Matteo, Dennis Wise, Mark Hughes and Frank Sinclair all suspended, and Frank Leboeuf and Eddie Newton injured.
The fact is that the stand in Chelsea midfield, which variously included the youngsters Morris, Paul Hughes, Nichols and the fullback Scot Minto, simply lacked the class and nous to prevent Patrick Vieira, David Platt and the imperious Dennis Bergkamp running the game.
Arsenal, seizing on this late season goodwill, duly romped home to maintain their challenge for the Premiership runners up spot and a Champions League place. Had their home form been stronger they would even be harbouring firm thoughts of the title.
Gianaluca Vialli was perhaps the only Chelsea player to perform to expectations and hardly deserved the criticism he got from his manager after the game. Making a rare start, he tried his heart out, showed some delightful touches and created the bulk of Chelsea's chances. Twice he was denied by David Seaman.
Had any of those early chances gone in, or had Gianfranco Zola not blasted wastefully over on 13 minutes, the mood of Chelsea's performance might have changed.
But Arsenal made their growing dominance tell. First Bergkamp pounced on a poor Chelsea pass and from all of 40 yards fed Wright with a ball of such weight and precision that it set the striker free between two defenders for his 27th goal of the season.
Nine minutes into the second half the speed of Bergkamp's touch, turn and pass set Wright free again and the unmarked Platt did the honours for goal number two.
The third summed up Chelsea's day. Craig Burley jumped to intercept Seaman's big kick, but instead provided a perfect backward kick off to set Bergkamp clear. He rounded the keeper and fired the ball into an empty net.
