Arsenal picked up their second Europa League win of the season on Thursday night as they beat Bodo/Glimt 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Following on from their 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, these two results have nicely set up Mikel Arteta’s side for their upcoming Premier League clash against Liverpool on Sunday.
Looking back on Thursday’s win, one player who stood out and put in a performance which showed that he can be regarded as Arteta’s hero on the night is Rob Holding.
Having played the full 90 minutes in Arsenal’s first Europa League game of the season against FC Zurich a month ago, the defender found himself back in the starting XI once again.
With 81 touches of the ball in total against their Norwegian opponents, Holding successfully completed 68 of the 72 passes that he attempted, leaving him with a passing accuracy percentage of 94%.
In addition to scoring Arsenal’s second goal of the night with a header just four minutes after Eddie Nketiah’s opener, the centre-back also showed his defensive talent throughout the game. Along with winning 100% of his duels, Holding made three clearances (including one off the line), blocked one shot, made one tackle and one interception and didn’t get dribbled past once.
This shows just how active the Englishman was at the back and how much of a part he played in seeing the Gunners keep their first clean sheet of the tournament.
This display ultimately earned the 27-year-old an impressive overall match rating of 8.5/10 from SofaScore, making him the highest-rated Arsenal player on the night. He even eclipsed Fabio Vieira’s rating of 8/10 despite the 22-year-old grabbing the third goal and also delivering the assist for Holding’s headed finish.
Having been praised by journalist Bill McLoughlin in the past for his “outstanding” performances for the north London club, that’s exactly what the ex-Bolton defender was on this occasion for the Gunners.
