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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Arsenal fans noticed what Rob Holding did to Sadio Mane during the 2-1 win over Liverpool

Arsenal have recorded a 2-1 win over Premier League champions Liverpool, a result which keeps the hope of a top-seven finish alive.

The Gunners fell behind inside the opening 20 minutes but took advantage of two uncharacteristic errors from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker to complete the turnaround and lead at the break.

Alexandre Lacazette and Reiss Nelson were the recipients of those goals, and both players have been praised in football.london's Arsenal player ratings from the Emirates Stadium.

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But there has been a special mention for centre-back Rob Holding who was restored to the starting line-up for the first time since coming on as a half-time substitute in the 4-0 win over Norwich City at the beginning of the month.

Tasked with keeping tabs on Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in particular, it was certainly a brave decision by head coach Mikel Arteta as he dropped Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac.

Barring a couple of hairy moments in the first-half, Holding barely put a foot wrong in the 95 minutes he was on the pitch.

This includes an incident with Sane which left the Senegal international on the turf.

Such was Holding's impressive display that some Arsenal fans are suggesting that he bullied the Reds' goalscorer at the Emirates Stadium.

Take a look at what's been said on Twitter...

It remains to be seen what this performance does for Holding's chances of retaining his position ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.

If the decision was up to Gunners legend Ray Parlour then Arteta should keep faith in the 24-year-old.

"Certainly I’d put him in the pecking order ahead of [Luiz and Mustafi]," Parlour told football.london. "He’s a better defender than both of those players.

"There’s definitely a proper talent there, I’ve said that all along. Before he got injured he was one of our best defenders. He had that injury and was out for a long period and that has been his problem, injuries at bad times.

"But now he has an opportunity. Sometimes it comes around again. He’s a young lad, he’s learning all the time. Hopefully he can get a regular spot now.

"That’s all you can do: put in a performance, win the right to play the following week, put in another good performance and before you know it you’re a regular with very consistent performances."

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