LONDON, England (AP) – Chelsea maintained their grip at the top of the Premier League yesterday by beating Arsenal 3-0 after two goals from Didier Drogba and an own-goal.

Drogba scored in the 41st minute after Frank Lampard brought the ball down the left and passed to Ashley Cole. The former Arsenal left back crossed to Drogba, who steered the ball in off the woodwork with his right foot.

An own-goal by Thomas Vermaelen, who turned in a cross by Cole with his right knee, put the visitors 2-0 up four minutes later. Chelsea scored a third goal minutes before the final whistle when Drogba’s free-kick flew past goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

Chelsea lead the standings with 36 points, five ahead of Manchester United. Arsenal is fourth, 11 points behind Chelsea but with a game in hand.

It was the first time Arsenal had lost at Emirates Stadium since their 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in May. That loss was Arsenal’s heaviest defeat at Emirates, which opened in 2006. Yesterday’s loss was also the second straight game that Arsenal failed to score a goal in the league, following last week’s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger criticised the referee, saying he got a key decision wrong at the beginning of the second half, when Arsenal had a goal disallowed. The Frenchman, who said the final score was an “unfair reflection of the game”, also called again for video replays to be instituted because of the incident.

Andrei Arshavin had the ball in the Chelsea net in the 48th minute. TV replays showed Eduardo kicking the ball out of Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech’s hands, the ball fell for Cesc Fabregas to cross to Arshavin and the Russia international blasted the ball home.

Arsenal went into the game with a number of injuries, including the announcement Saturday that main striker Robin van Persie has been ruled out for up to five months. The Netherlands international will need surgery after injuring his ankle on international duty, and will likely only return for Arsenal in the final weeks of the season.

Lampard, who made a surprise comeback from a thigh injury, had been initially ruled out for around three weeks after he tore a muscle in his left thigh while training with the England national team on November 12.

The first half had been evenly balanced up until the first goal with both sides managing a couple of shots each. Chelsea also had a strong penalty claim in the 19th, when Nicolas Anelka appeared to be pulled back and then to the ground by right back B back into the game early in the second half. Eduardo da Silva latched on to a throughball early on, but two Chelsea defenders closed him down as he was advancing on goal.

Chelsea nearly scored in the 64th when an effort by Drogba from the edge of the area was deflected off William Gallas and then off Lampard’s chest. Almunia just managed to tip it away.