Didier Drogba inflicted further punishment on Arsenal as Chelsea seized the early initiative in the title race with their first league victory against the Gunners in 10 years.
Drogba, who scored twice against Arsene Wenger's side in the Blues' Community Shield victory, was one of Chelsea's three substitutes, who - at a princely sum of almost £70 million - cost more than the entire Arsenal squad.
However, while he wasted one clear opening at Stamford Bridge, he made Arsenal pay for a shocking lack of concentration at a free-kick as the ball squirmed off his shin and beat Jens Lehmann on 73 minutes.
Philippe Senderos, who had been bullied into submission by Drogba in the Community Shield, was again at fault, even though the blame was shared by his unobservant team-mates who were lured into relaxing on a 0-0 scoreline.
However, the Swiss international's confidence was clearly affected and only Drogba's indecision in front of goal saved him from further punishment after a shocking attempted pass-back in the final minute.
Last season, Chelsea had defeated Manchester United by a similarly narrow margin in their first home game, causing
Alex Ferguson to reflect that his side never truly recovered.
Arsenal must now ensure they do not similarly allow their morale to suffer, although they still lost the title by 12 points last season even after holding Chelsea to two draws.
Thierry Henry lacked genuine support up front, with Wenger having initially taken the rare step of selecting Robert Pires to play in behind his captain, with Alexander Hleb handed his full debut on the left flank.
Chelsea who made a storming start, almost seizing the lead within the first two minutes.
Frank Lampard's through-ball sent Damien Duff scampering through the centre, but Lehmann was out in a flash to dive at his feet and block the opening, with Senderos clearing the lingering danger.
Chelsea still won a corner, however, and Lehmann was fortunate when Freddie Ljungberg cleared off the line after the Arsenal 'keeper had only been able to take the sting off John Terry's powerful header.
After that fiery opening, the game rather settled down and Chelsea seemed to be paying the price for preferring Hernan Crespo to Drogba as Kolo Toure was efficiently shadowing the Argentina striker.
It was all rather cagey, but there was at least some spice with the arrival of Drogba as he replaced Crespo to start giving Senderos a real physical test.
Drogba blazed his first half-chance wildly into the crowd, but Chelsea have strength in abundance on the bench, with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Michael Essien arriving at a net cost of £45.4 million between them.
Arsenal lost concentration when it mattered most in failing to react to Lampard's free-kick as Drogba left Senderos in his wake and beat Lehmann from close range, albeit off his right shin as he failed to control the ball.
That should have prompted a prolonged late assault by Arsenal but Henry, who had one shot pushed around the post by Cech, was still a rather lone figure up front.
It was instead Drogba who should have scored again only to aim his effort straight at Lehmann after Senderos' slip.
