Holland 4 France 1 - Arsenal Watch: WILLIAM GALLAS / ROBIN VAN PERSIE

Arsenal players past and present littered the squads of both Holland and France during tonight's Euro 2008 Group C match held in the Wankdorf Stadium - Bern, Switzerland.

For France, old(ish) boys Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, and Patrick Vieira featured in the squad alongside William Gallas and prospective new signing Samir Nasri. For the Dutch, former Arsenal left-back Giovanni Van Bronckhorst started whilst Robin Van Persie was named on the bench.

Holland started in first gear; the disgusting Claude Makelele lucky to only collect a booking after shoulder charging Dirk Kuyt in the face then later violently swinging an arm in the direction of Rafael Van Der Vaart's head.

On 10 minutes Kuyt headed the opener for Holland after poor marking by Malouda from a corner, although France came back into things as the half progressed - both Govou and Ribery looking dangerous. In the first half, Henry looked dreadfully static playing centrally as the lone front man, just as Anelka had in the 0-0 draw against Romania the previous Monday.

Disappointingly, Holland began timewasting from the start of the second half as France increased the tempo and started to take charge of the game. Henry, now drifting into his favoured left forward position, perked up considerably and was unlucky not to score when his close range strike was handballed (albeit accidentally) by Andre Ooijer. On the 52nd minute, Henry fluffed a great opportunity to beat Van Der Sar, lobbing the ball over the bar unapposed from 20 yards.

Robin Van Persie entered play on the 54th minute in exchange for Kuyt, with Holland switching to a 4-3-3 formation. Within 4 minutes the Dutchman blasted left-footed past Gregory Coupe, having arrived late into the box from a great counter-attacking cross from Arjen Robben. 2-0 Holland and Gallas none to happy. The Dutch fans sung Van Persie's name on 66 as the forward cruised through the French defence and squared, although no midfield runners showed for him as he had done 8 minutes earlier.

On the 70th minute, Henry rolled back the years with a fantastic left foot flick past Van Der Saar from Sagnol's overlapping cross, yet within one minute Robben put Holland 3-1 up within an incredible strike into the roof of the net from a seemingly impossible angle. On 75, Henry cynically hacked down Van Persie; an incident sure to bring a wry smile from Arsenal fans the world over, later Anelka dived in the box following a clever one two with Henry - but alas there was nothing the French could do to turn the tide as Wesley Sneijder sealed the result with an excellent strike in injury time - assist Van Persie.

Overall, a highly entertaining game - Van Basten's second half introduction of Robben and Van Persie undoubtedly making the difference as the Dutch cruised through to the quarter finals. Although not principally to blame for the goals conceded, Gallas was given a torrid time - the ageing Thuram often making life more difficult for him.