William Gallas scored against his old club as Arsenal grabbed a 1-0 home victory over Chelsea and regained the Premiership summit in an ill-tempered clash on Sunday. The French defender, who arrived from Chelsea in September 2006, wore the captain's armband against his old teammates and put in a solid display. He headed home shortly before the halftime whistle to send the home fans into ecstasy. Arsenal are in charge of the table with 40 points, just one ahead of second-placed Manchester United, who edged past Liverpool 1-0 earlier on Sunday. Chelsea's Brazilian defender Alex almost scored into his own net after 12 minutes when he back-headed a long ball towards Petr Cech. The ball evaded the Czech Republic keeper and went just wide of the post. Two minutes later, Chelsea launched a quick counter attack and Shaun Wright-Philips drove a shot from the edge of the area but Manuel Almunia, with a showy dive, saved it. Chances were few and far between in the first-half, which witnessed confrontations between players from both sides. Chelsea skipper John Terry was booked in the 29th minute for a tough tackle on Cesc Fabregas.
Cech made an error His teammate Frank Lampard also received a yellow card for being involved in the melee that occurred following Terry's challenge. Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue made a rash challenge on Terry in the 38th minute. The England defender couldn't resume the match and was replaced by Israeli Tal Ben Haim. Gallas put The Gunners ahead in the first-half's additional time, capitalizing on a dreadful marking by Ben Haim and an error from Cech. A mis-timed jump by Cech couldn't help him grasp a corner and Gallas pounced to head into an empty net, under no pressure from Ben Haim. Arsenal could have extended their lead on several occasions in the second period but squandered easy opportunities. On the other hand, Chelsea were also close to leveling the score. In the 75th minute, Wright-Philips was picked out unmarked in the six-yard box but blasted poorly wide with the goal at his mercy. Two minutes later, Dutch striker Robin van Persie should have scored when he connected with Alexander Hleb's low cross but his effort flew high over. Arsenal had two goals late in the game from Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor ruled out for offside and foul respectively.
