Arsenal Vs Watford: 5 things we learned – Thank God it’s over

Arsenal closed out their Premier League campaign against Watford on Sunday afternoon. Here are five things we learned from the 3-2 win.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored two and set up another as Arsenal hung on to beat Watford and move into eighth in the Premier League. It was far from a convincing performance from the Gunners, who conceded plenty of excellent chances to the Hornets, who were relegated as a result of their defeat.

Aubameyang opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Alexandre Lacazette was felled. He then teed up Kieran Tierney in a brilliant move from back to front before scoring an overhead kick from a long throw-in. Troy Deeney and Danny Welbeck scored for Watford, but Arsenal did just enough to hang on.

Here are five things we learned from the wild 3-2 victory.

5. Rob Holding struggles

David Luiz will be lambasted for conceding another penalty, his fifth of the season. It is a record for a single player and more than 10 entire teams. However, while Luiz’s late challenge on Danny Welbeck was ill-advised, his mistake was not the critical one in the move.

That was Rob Holding, who first rallied on the ball when receiving it from Emiliano Martinez before playing a poor pass into Dani Ceballos which was easily intercepted. From that moment on, Arsenal were always scrambling to recover and it led to Luiz’s desperate lunge.

This mistake was emblematic of Holding’s overall performance. He rarely looked comfortable and assured when defending, his passing was erratic and inaccurate, while he struggled when thrust into wide areas at moments when Arsenal played in a back three.

Holding is fighting for his place and future. With William Saliba set to arrive, and Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers still return from injury, performances like this one will do little to aid his cause.