Gervinho scored late in the first half to give Arsenal parity with Chelsea after 45 minutes of the sides' Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.
The big news ahead of kickoff was that John Terry retained the captain's armband for Chelsea and started the match, despite being handed a four-match ban by the FA on Thursday for racially abusing Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand.
Terry had been cleared to play after delaying his decision on whether or not to appeal his punishment.
Arsenal were dealt an early blow on 17 minutes when injury-troubled midfielder Abou Diaby was forced off with a leg problem and replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Things got worse for the hosts three minutes later when Torres fended off the challenge of Laurent Koscielny before volleying home Juan Mata's in-swinging free kick from eight yards.
Torres then dispossessed Koscielny moments later, leaving him with just goalkeeper Vito Mannone to beat. However, he lost his balance and stumbled to the ground after taking the ball around the Italian stopper.
The Spaniard's eventful afternoon continued on the half-hour as he found the net again, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
Arsenal levelled slightly against the run of play three minutes before the break. Gervinho collected Oxlade-Chamberlain's cut back from the right, before turning inside the penalty area and unleashing a ferocious strike which flew into the top corner of Petr Cech's goal.
Robert Summerscales
