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‘We had to go out with a high intensity'

Rob Holding faces off with Diego Costa

You would never have guessed that Saturday was Rob Holding’s first Emirates FA Cup final.

The England Under-21 international was at his resolute best alongside Nacho Monreal and Per Mertesacker, helping us see out a 2-1 win over Chelsea with a number of crucial tackles and blocks.

on what it means to lift trophy…
It was important for us to finish the season on a high and go on a bit of a roll, so hopefully we can carry that into the new season.

on Chelsea’s equaliser and Ramsey’s winner…
When they scored and I was diving in front to try and block it, I saw it drop in and I thought, ‘This is going to be tough now, they’ve got something to hold onto as they’re one man down’. I thought they’d try to keep it at 1-1 and take it to penalties, but luckily we hit them straight away and that’s probably the best time for us to get a winner, which we ended up doing with Rambo.

on whether it saves Arsenal’s season…
Yeah. This season was a good season but we just missed out on the Champions League. We got 75 points and normally that would see you over the line for the Champions League, so that was tough to take but to finish the season with a trophy is always nice.

on the game…
It was a tough match but we knew it would be a tough match against Chelsea because they’re Premier League champions. We just had to go out there with a high intensity and press well. We managed to score the two goals which saw us over the line.

on Arsenal’s season…
It was disappointing to miss out on the Champions League. I thought we were unlucky there but it’s amazing to finish it with some silverware. It’s nice to win it for the fans.