In a wild London derby, Chelsea conceded twice in the opening 11 minutes before recovering brilliantly for a 4-3 win at Tottenham to move four points behind Liverpool on Sunday.
Cole Palmer sealed the comeback with an impudent "Panenka" penalty - one of his two converted spot kicks in the match - as Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was left pondering another defeat that showed up the best and worst sides of his inconsistent team.
The Blues' Enzo Fernandez celebrates after scoring at Tottenham. (AP PHOTO)
"We played well today ... it's a sore one, it's painful," admitted Postecoglou.
Liverpool, the league leaders, were inactive this round after a storm forced the postponement of the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday.
It gave Chelsea and Arsenal, Liverpool's closest challengers, an opportunity to apply some pressure.
Arsenal couldn't do that, only drawing 1-1 with Fulham on Sunday, but Chelsea didn't miss out.
Maresca has been insisting their youthful squad shouldn't be considered contenders to win the league this season because too many of his players are too young and inexperienced.
Few will accept that now, though.
After an unprecedented spending spree on players of over $US1.3 billion ($A2.0 billion) over the last five transfer windows, Chelsea finally have a consistent team — led by Palmer on the field and with impressive direction from Maresca off it.
The Blues' only losses in the league have been to Manchester City — in the opening round, way before the champions' recent meltdown — and Liverpool. They've won their last four league games, scoring 14 goals in the process.
Palmer has set a record by scoring each of the first 12 penalties he has taken in the Premier League.
It's the best 100 per cent record in the competition — overtaking former Man City midfielder Yaya Toure.
Since joining Chelsea in the summer of 2023, Palmer has 33 goals and 17 assists in 48 games. Only Erling Haaland for City (39 games), Andy Cole for Newcastle (43 games), and Mo Salah for Liverpool (46 games) have got to 50 goal involvements quicker.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are getting most of their goals from set pieces.
William Saliba — one of two scorers from corners in the 2-0 win over Manchester United on Wednesday — repeated the trick in the 52nd minute against Fulham to earn his team a point at Craven Cottage, after Raul Jimenez had put Fulham ahead in the 11th.
Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta suffered a frustrating afternoon. (AP PHOTO)
Arsenal trimmed the gap to Liverpool to six points but this will go down as a wasted opportunity.
Bukayo Saka had what looked like being a winning goal for Arsenal ruled out for offside against fellow winger Gabriel Martinelli in the buildup in the 88th.
Bournemouth and Leicester also left it very late to pick up points from losing positions.
Jamie Vardy scored in the 86th minute and set up another goal for Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the first minute of stoppage time as Leicester staged a late recovery to draw 2-2 at home to Brighton in Ruud van Nistelrooy's second match in charge. He won his first, against West Ham, 3-1 on Tuesday.
Tariq Lamptey and Yankuba Minteh had earlier given Brighton a two-goal cushion.
Bournemouth scored in the 87th, and again in the fifth minute of added-on time through Dango Ouattara, to win 2-1 at Ipswich, who had gone ahead through Conor Chaplin in the 21st minute but who are now still deep in relegation trouble with just one victory all season.
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