Chelsea slumped to an embarrassing, yet equally unsurprising defeat at the hands of title-chasing Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

A totally unacceptable and abject first-half display saw the Blues fall three goals behind in just 34 minutes to pile further misery upon Frank Lampard.

The caretaker manager has lost all six games in charge since his return to the Stamford Bridge helm and has been unable to reverse the fortunes of this broken club.

Todd Boehly’s excessive scattergun recruitment has largely been pinpointed as one of the principal reasons for the side’s monumental downfall, but the signing of the elite Raheem Sterling was intended to showcase his intentions.

At the time, then-manager Thomas Tuchel was elated with the deal and lavished praise upon the transfer.

He said: "It was the number one priority, and we are very excited and super happy. It's a perfect fit.”

However, Sterling has failed to recapture the form that catapulted him into international stardom and has massively underperformed for his new club. This was painfully apparent in his weak and uninspiring display against the Gunners.

How did Raheem Sterling play against Arsenal?

The forward bagged 226 goal contributions in 339 appearances in all competitions for Manchester City, winning four Premier League titles in the process.

He rightly arrived in west London with a prestigious and esteemed reputation but has been unable to make any meaningful impact.

In last night’s encounter, he failed to register any shots, successful dribbles, accurate crosses or key passes in a dismal showing, which resulted in his substitution after 71 minutes.

One Blues writer labelled the former Liverpool player as “absolutely embarrassing”, which is completely warranted on the basis of his current form.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the night was his lack of effort. Indeed, for one Arsenal goal he had a handle on Martin Odegaard before letting him roam free completely unaware into the box.

There were plenty on show at the Emirates who were 'embarrassing', most notably Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang, much to the satisfaction of Arsenal fans, as he completed just nine touches before being dragged off at half-time.

That said, Sterling wasn't much better and could quite easily have been withdrawn at the interval himself.

The 82-cap international now hasn’t scored since New Year's Day and despite his immense trickery and skill, he has only mustered 1.3 dribbles per game, just the sixth-highest in a vastly underperforming team, as per WhoScored.

No one has been consistent for Chelsea this season, but as one of the players with the most pedigree, he has been shameful at times and has delivered way below expectations.

The attacker looks like a shadow of the player that hugged the touchline at Manchester City and relentlessly tortured defenders with his unplayable pace and dynamism. He cuts a dejected, frustrated, and disconnected figure at a club that is crying out for stability.

Nevertheless, the £71m-rated man needs to roll back the years quickly and find his previously devastating goal-scoring touch.