Didier Drogba's second goal sealed Chelsea's decisive victory over Arsenal, 2-0. (Photo: ZumePress)

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Followers of the club game focused on London this weekend, neutrals could be forgiven if they zoned-out on a match that saw one side post two early goals and control of the match.

Many who follow the English Premier League are ringing an "I told you so" tone in the wake of Arsenal's 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge, throwing Chelsea back to the top of the table, one point clear of Manchester United (who beat Portsmouth, 5-0).

Today, Gunners' supporters have little retort.  After Didier Drogba scored in the 8th minute, Arsenal played some inspired soccer, but their inability to consistently threaten after Drogba's second goal (beautiful finish to a counter attack in the 23rd minute) affirmed the gap between England's top two and the third place Gunners.

In successive weeks, Arsenal has lost to the top two, posted an aggregate score of 1-6 in matches that could fairly be called "uncompetitive."  Arsenal never led in either, ultimately lost each by two goals, and showed glaring defensive weaknesses in both.  

Unless Arsène Wenger can solve his problem with left back Gael Clichy and left-center half Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal will have trouble maintaining third place.

Andrei Arshavin (to close the first half) and Cesc Fabregas (early in the second) threatened Petr Cech - who had one of this best matches of the season - but Arsenal never looked in the same class as Chelsea.  

With Liverpool looming on Wednesday, Arsenal now faces a fight for third place and the last English Premier League automatic UEFA Champions League spot.

Meanwhile, Chelsea provided EPL-followers some top-of-the-table clarity.  Stop me of you've heard this before:  This season's coming down to Chelsea and United.

More from England and across Europe, after the jump.

England:  A ten-man Liverpool won the Merseyside Derby, using a Dirk Kuyt goal to down Everton 1-0.  A nil-nil draw at White Hart Lane between Tottenham and Aston Villa helped vault the maligned Reds into fourth, passing Spurs.  Manchester City wasted their chance to gain ground by losing at Hull, 2-1, while Birmingham City stayed on the fringes of European qualification with a comeback, 2-1 win over Wolves, substitute Kevin Phillips getting each goal.

Germany:  The league's top three each went on the road, each facing a club in the bottom-half.  Only one of the leaders survived unscathed.  Surprise:  it was München.

Goals by Arjen Robben (2'), Daniel van Buyten (26'), and Franck Ribéry (57') helped Bayern coast to a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg.  Three three points pulled them even with Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the league (with Bayer +2 on goal difference) after the league's leaders drew at Bochum.  Third-place Schalke wasted their chance to gain on Bayer, drawing nil-nil at Freiburg.

Italy: A late goal from Mirko Vucinic gave Roma a 1-0 win at Fiorentina and fuel to gain sole possession of second place.  Milan's nil-nil draw at Bologna continued their struggles, now third place after one point in three matches.

In the meantime, Internazionale keeps rolling.  They are now eight points clear after a 3-0 win over Calgiari at the San Siro.  Goals by Goran Pandev and Walter Samuel took the hosts into half up two, with Diego Milito's 13th goal sealing the match in the 47th minute.

Juventus is now down to seventh after drawing at Livorno, the point allowing the hosts to scrape above relegation, into 17th place.  The Old Lady was passed by Sampdoria - who beat Siena 2-1 to move into 6th - and Palermo, whose late goal from Fábio Simplicío gave them a 2-1 win hosting Parma, pulling them into fifth place.

Spain:  Barcelona played most of their match with ten, finished it with nine, but got three points from Getafe.  Goals by Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez buffered a late goal but Roberto Soldado, giving Barça a 2-1 win.

The Blaugrana stayed five points clear of Real Madrid, with Los Blancos beating Espanyol 3-0 after goals from Sergio Ramos, Kaka, and Gonzalo Higuaín.

Valencia remains third (2-0 win Saturday over Real Valladolid) but Sevilla fell back out of the top four, losing at relegation-embattled Real Zaragoza, 2-1.  At 42nd minute own goal from Alvaro Negredo was the difference, the match finishing with ten Zaragoza players against nine Rojiblancos.

Mallorca was the beneficiary, back into fourth after Jose Nunes's 81st minute goal gave them a 1-0 win over Villareal.

France:  Bordeaux's first Ligue Un loss since November came with a bang, Girondins down 3-0 after 48 minutes.  Stade Rennes would register a 4-2 win, moving them to eighth and back to the edge of Europe.

Montpelier's fourth win in a row, this time defeating relegation-bound Boulogne, pushed them within three points of the league lead.

Lyon missed an opportunity to go third after their nil-nil draw at Toulouse, Lille having opened the door after drawing 1-1 at Nice.

Netherlands: Even with this weekend's action in England, I found myself keeping an eye on the Eredivisie, knowing third place Ajax was hosting second place Twente in Sunday's last match.  With PSV cruising to a 2-0 win on Saturday against ADO Den Haag, Twente would need a win in Amsterdam to keep pace atop the league.

Twente was unable to slow down the potent Ajax attack, who got goals from Demy De Zeeuw (22'), Marko Pantelic (44'), and Dennis Rommedahl (75'), winning 3-0 to deal a huge blow to Twente's title ambitions.

After taking a twelve match winning streak into the winter break, Twente has won only twice in five since restart.  PSV is still unbeaten in league, and in a league where three clubs are pulling more than two points per match, the three point gap looms large.

Turkey:  Galatasaray thought their Saturday, 0-0 result at fourth-place Kayserispor would allow Fenerbahçe to increase their one point lead atop the league, but it took a stoppage time goal from Andres Santos for Fener to preserve a point at home against fourteenth Diyarbakirspor, with a 1-1 result.

Along with Bursaspor's nil-nil draw at Ankaragücü, the top four in the Turkcell SuperLïg all drew.

Portugal:  Benfica surprisingly stumbled at Vitoria Setubal, drawing 1-1 on the road Saturday.  Second place Braga can close the gap to one point with a win at Belenenses on Monday, while Porto's 3-0 win over Naval pulled them within seven, maintaining their slim chance to retain their title.

Belgium:  League-leading Anderlecht suffered their first home loss of the season when Cephas Chimedza converted a penalty kick in the 85th minute, breaking a 1-1 tie to give fifth place Sint-Truiden three points.  The win vaulted Sint-Truiden into a playoff spot.

Club Brugge reaped only a small benefit from Anderlecht's misstep, being drawn at fourth place Zulte-Warrgem, 1-1.

Switzerland:  FC Basel's four goals in the last 22 minutes of their match with Young Boys - three coming in the last nine - pulled the Rotblau within four of Young Boys in first.  The Swiss Super League restarted this weekend after their two month break.