John Terry had looked like ending a bad week on a high after putting Chelsea 2-1 ahead at half-time, but the captain's slip allowed Van Persie to put Arsenal 4-3 up and the Dutchman completed his treble in the closing minutes.

"You could see how happy we are at the end because we fought hard and every one of us showed character," Van Persie said on Sky Sports 2.

"It's a big, big win for us today."

Asked about his second goal, Van Persie added: "I was surprised (when Terry slipped) because it was an easy back pass and I only saw later that he slipped because I was closing him down.

"I suddenly realised I was one on one with (Petr) Cech and a couple of things came to my mind to do, but I did the easiest one."

Midfielder Aaron Ramsey believes the Gunners are starting to show what they can do after a slow start to the season.

"It was a really good game for us, we showed great character coming back from behind," Ramsey added. "I think we deserved it in the end, we created a lot of opportunities and took a lot of them.

"We are finally gelling together now and showing what we are capable of doing and this is just an example of that.

"I'm sure the manager will look at some of the defending and work on that, but at the end of the day we're happy to get the win."

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas felt the turning point of the game came when Juan Mata missed a chance to put his side 4-3 ahead.

"The decisive moment might have been when Mata was free on goal and misses the chance to go 4-3 ahead," Villas-Boas told Sky Sports 2.

"We've seen some great open games recently between the top teams and this is one more. We will have to reflect on the mistakes we made and there are a couple of things we can improve, but the commitment and desire is there.

"We must evolve, it's a loss against a big team picking up form, it's two defeats in a row and we have to get things right."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was delighted with the win, and also the manner in which it was achieved.

"It was fantastic to watch, both teams went for it," Wenger said. "In the second half I felt we were completely dominating the game and created chance after chance.

"Overall we have shown quality and mental strength as well. To go 2-1 down and come out the way we did shows great resolve in the team.

"I thought we looked fragile in defence in the first half but we looked dangerous going forward.

"We achieved the target of winning a big game away from home and did it with style, but we have to keep our feet on the ground and focus on another big game on Tuesday.

"That's the football we want to play, you always think you can get rid of the defensive mistakes we had in the first half."