Arsenal moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League standings after a resounding 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners were in a rampant mood as they stuck four goals past a managerless Eagles outfit, who just days ago sacked Patrick Vieira, with Bukayo Saka (two), Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli all finding the net.
It was the first time that the north London giants took the field following their exit from the Europa League and they certainly put that result behind them.
The defeat to Sporting CP in midweek also saw a couple of worrisome injuries emerge, with William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu both missing this encounter, though in their absence, Rob Holding stepped up to prove all his doubters wrong…
How did Rob Holding play against Palace?
The prospect of the forgotten centre-back starting for the foreseeable future made several Arsenal fans worry about the title race, with some viewing the Englishman as not being up to the standard required.
However, he was arguably one of the better players on the pitch for Mikel Arteta, particularly in the first half.
By the full-time whistle, he was the only starting defender to still be on the pitch as the Spaniard tinkered with his options, likely planning for future inconveniences and affording some rest to his regular starters, with Kieran Tierney and Jakub Kiwior earning minutes.
The £40k-per-week titan was heavily involved throughout the 90 minutes, registering the second-highest number of touches (87), in which he delivered 64 accurate passes, including 100% of his five long balls finding an Arsenal shirt, via Sofascore.
He also won a whopping 11 duels, made five clearances and put in two successful tackles, helping thwart the threat on offer from Wilfried Zaha, who on his day can be a major threat to any backline.
"Rob Holding been solid in heart of defence so far," noted Evening Standard journalist Simon Collings at the break, whilst former Hale End graduate Nico Yennaris also gave the 27-year-old – who cost Arsene Wenger just £2m from Bolton in 2016 – his flowers on Twitter.
Although few endorsements were as glowing as the one from NBC Sports lead Joe Prince-Wright, who said: "Rob Holding doing his best Virgil van Dijk impression so far. Some majestic passes out of the back."
Given the stick that Holding received before he even stepped out on the Emirates turf on Sunday afternoon, his performance would've surely shut up a few doubters and just maybe, the 6 foot 2 colossus can have a big say in the title race in the coming weeks, if not months.