Arsene Wenger refutes ‘easy’ path to Wembley as Arsenal eye FA Cup glory

Marching to Wembley: Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud celebrates scoring (Picture: Reuters)

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal have earned their FA Cup semi-final trip to Wembley the hard way.
The Gunners beat Everton 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, when Olivier Giroud came off the bench to net a second-half double. It was a fourth home draw of the competition for Arsenal but their third against Premier League opposition, as they kept alive a shot at a first trophy since 2005.
Arsenal boss Wenger said: ‘People have questioned our desire to do well in the FA Cup many times but we are in the semi-final now and from our performance on Saturday, you can see we really want it.
‘Since the start of this competition it is true we had a good draw in the fact that we played all the games at home, which is the first time [that this has happened] since I played in the FA Cup.
‘But, on the other hand, we played difficult opponents – Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton – and that shows you we have taken this competition seriously.’
Arsenal took an early lead through Mesut Ozil but were pegged back before half-time when Romelu Lukaku tapped in. The hosts got themselves back in command when Mikel Arteta scored from a penalty before Giroud added a late double as the game opened up.
Wenger believes the manner of the victory can lift his side for what looks a ‘mission impossible’ when they will be out to overturn a 2-0 deficit at Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed Wolfsburg 6-1 away on Saturday but Wenger remains optimistic.
He added: ‘The win over Everton was the perfect platform to go into a game where the statistics go against you, but let’s be inspired by our FA Cup performance and go to Bayern and try to repeat it. I am convinced we’ll have a real go.’