Arsenal Star Praises “Big” First Clean Sheet Of The Season

Rob Holding is not underestimating the magnitude of that clean sheet against Everton…

Arsenal defender Rob Holding spoke on the importance of our first clean sheet of the season as we defeated Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

It was a very tight game in which we needed Petr Cech to save us on a few occasions before we ran away with the game in the second half with goals in four minutes.

Our defence has come under intense scrutiny this season as they attempt to become accustomed to Unai Emery’s philosophy which includes a high line.

And, when Holding was forced to enter the fray in the first half for the injured Sokratis, we were fearing that a disjointed defence may begin to leak goals.

However, in fairness to the former Bolton man, he came on and produced a stellar display to maintain our clean sheet.

“Everton have had a good start to the season and they’ve got pace on the counter-attack and strength, so we had to be careful when we’re attacking because they are a threat. But we managed to deal with it and got our first clean sheet of the season which is big,” the 23-year-old told Arsenal Player.

“Yeah, we’ve obviously conceded in each game so the clean sheet is a big boost for us and that was the target for the last few games, to keep a clean sheet!

“It’s good to get that off our back now and we can push on for the rest of the season.”

Holding will certainly want to stake a claim for a regular starting berth and although Sokratis left the field of play with just a dead leg, it will be interesting to see if he does.