Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0: Wenger bemoans early miss as Drogba strikes again

Drogba backheeled Ashley Cole's low cross into the net at the near post five minutes before the break for his 13th goal against Arsene Wenger's side in 11 starts.

Defender Alex settled the contest with a powerful 30-yard free-kick in the 85th minute to hand the Gunners their second successive league defeat.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger looked for positives in a loss which leaves the Gunners lagging seven points behind their London rivals.

But he was critical of defender Laurent Koscielny for his first-minute miss at Stamford Bridge, and claimed his team had frequently rushed their approach in the attacking third of the pitch.

Wenger said: "The game should have been over before it started.

"We had two chances in the first minute, one very easy.

"We had chance after chance and never put the ball in the back of the net."

Discussing the chance which saw Koscielny head over the bar from Samir Nasri's corner, Wenger said: "It's never too early (to score). I believe he should have at least hit the target.

"It's disappointing because it was a good collective team performance and I believe sometimes we rushed our game in the final third, especially in the first half when we wanted to take some difficult shots."

Wenger also argued that Alex Song was fouled as Drogba put Chelsea ahead with his clever flick.

Chelsea defender Alex put the finishing touches to the home side's win at Stamford Bridge with a superb free-kick strike in the closing stages.

Wenger said of his beaten players: "The team fought outstandingly well and showed some great qualities. We have to take the positives from that massive disappointment.

"We care about winning our games but you have to take a little bit of distance with the result as well. I believe we showed outstanding quality and we have to keep battling and fighting and get our influential players back. We have an outstanding team.

"Having watched the game as objectively as I can, I believe we can have big regrets for having lost it."

Drogba enjoyed his goal and said: "I think I scored one like that in the Champions League in the group stage, I don't remember the team we played.

"This one is much better because it put us 1-0 up and then we played a bit better."

Chelsea have a four-point advantage over second-placed Manchester City, with Manchester United third and

Arsenal fourth.

"It's good to go to the national team with this gap," Drogba said.