Chelsea started the match strongly taking the lead in the 14th minute when Juan Mata delivered an inch-perfect cross for Frank Lampard to guide a header past Szczesny in the Arsenal goal.
The home side continued to dominate possession but Arsenal hit back in the 36th minute when Aaron Ramsey threaded the ball through to Gervinho who selflessly squared the ball back for van Persie to side-foot past Petr Cech.
Chelsea had a goal disallowed two minutes later with Ramires being ruled offside, but earned a deserved halftime lead when John Terry bundled the ball home from a corner kick in the 45th minute.
Arsenal were far from finished though and hit back four minutes after the break as Alex Song played in Andre Santos who squeezed a shot underneath Cech to level the scores at 2-2.
Six minutes later, Theo Walcott gave the Gunners the lead -- unleashing a fierce shot inside Cech's near post after outwitting three Chelsea defenders.
A 25-yard strike from Mata restored parity for Chelsea in the 80th minute, but van Persie put Arsenal ahead again five minutes later, pouncing on a mistake by John Terry to slot home his second before lashing home his third in injury time to seal a remarkable win.
Manchester United bounced back from the 6-1 battering from their city rivals last weekend edging past Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park.
Havier Hernandez was on hand to side-foot home from a Patrice Evra cross in the 19th minute to give United the lead after they had made a bright opening to the match.
Everton battled their way back into the match and came close to an equalizer -- Leighton Baines hitting the crossbar from a free-kick, while David De Gea saved smartly from Leon Osman.
But despite the pressure, United held firm to cement second place in the table behind leaders, Manchester City who enjoyed a comfortable 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Edin Dzeko opened the scoring for City in the 52nd minute with Aleksandar Kolarov adding a second 15 minutes later.
City's Belgian defender Vincent Kompany was sent off in the 75th minute for a challenge on Kevin Doyle -- the resulting penalty was converted by Stephen Hunt.
But Adam Johnson (who came on for Dzeko midway through the second half) netted in injury time to ensure Robert Mancini's side maintained their five-point lead at the top of the table.
First half goals from Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll proved enough for Liverpool who beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at The Hawthorns.
Liverpool were awarded a penalty in the 9th minute when Luis Suarez was bundled over in the box -- Adam making no mistake with the spot kick.
Suarez was involved again in the second, setting up Carroll who poked a shot past advancing West Brom keeper Ben Foster.
Despite a host of chances in the second half Liverpool couldn't extend their lead, but the win lifts them to fifth. West Brom are 13th with 11 points.
Norwich City came from two goals down to earn a 3-3 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers -- a result which keeps Steve Kean's side in the bottom three. Norwich are in eighth place.
Sunderland also came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa.
Goals from Villa's Bulgarian midfielder Stiliyan Petrov (20th minute) and Richard Dunne (85th minute) were canceled out by Connor Wickham, who scored seven minutes before half time and Stephane Sessegnon who stole a point for Sunderland seconds before the final whistle.
Swansea City continued their promising start to season with 3-1 over struggling Bolton Wanderers. The result moves them up to 10th place.
Bolton, meanwhile, are second from bottom with six points, one point ahead of Wigan who suffered their third home defeat of the season losing 2-0 to Fulham.
Goals from Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele lift Martin Jol's side up to 15th.
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