Holding his own: Stand-in man delivers for Arsenal 

Holding, although given a hard time by Wilfried Zaha, thoroughly deserved his win bonus.

UP FOR IT: Crystal Palace's Odsonne Edouard (left) and Arsenal's Rob Holding. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.

Arsenal passed the Rob Holding test with flying colours: is there any reason why the Gunners cannot now go ahead and book that open-topped bus and set a date for a first Premier League title parade in 19 years?

This was a clash of two London sides in desperate need of bouncing back, albeit from markedly differing brands of strife. Arsenal's was a Europa League exit at the hands of Sporting Lisbon on Thursday; Palace's the winless run that precipitated the removal of Patrick Vieira as manager a few hours later, on St Patrick's Day of all days.