Arsène Wenger believes his Arsenal players can use the confidence of reaching the FA Cup semi-finals to be "inspired" against Bayern Munich when they face the immense task of trying to overturn a 2-0 deficit against the Champions League holders.
"Psychologically, it puts us in a good mind for Munich," said Wenger ahead of Tuesday's game at the Allianz Arena. "We can be inspired by our focus and our desire. It was a high-quality performance from the first minute to the last minute and we can go to Bayern in the same spirit. The statistics are against us, but let's make sure that the performance goes for us, and then we have a chance."
Wenger was speaking after two late goals from substitute Olivier Giroud had helped Arsenal beat Everton 4-1. Mesut Özil opened the scoring against Roberton Martínez's team and Mikel Arteta restored their lead with a retaken penalty after Romelu Lukaku's equaliser.
"Mathematically, I can't deny that's two games from a trophy but practically it's a bit more difficult than that," Wenger said. "Let's see who we play in the semi-final. It's true that we've had a good draw in that we've played all our games at home. It's the first time that's happened since I've been in the FA Cup, but we have played difficult opponents – Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton. That shows you we have taken this competition seriously."
Martínez felt the score was not an accurate reflection of a day when his team made it "very uncomfortable" for Arsenal. "The key moment was the second goal. After that, we just gambled and lost our defensive intensity. But the score doesn't truly reflect what happened."
Wenger disagreed. "The first half was all us and we were unlucky to be 1-1 at half-time. In the second half Everton started well and had a chance with [Ross] Barkley but we scored the second goal and after that we controlled the game well. It always looked like we could score more."
He praised Özil after a week in which the club's record signing was booed by Germany fans in their midweek friendly against Chile. "It's important for Özil, the way he took his chance. I hope that will encourage him. It was pleasing because, physically, he looked regenerated. He had more power and what I liked was that he did a lot of dirty work for a player like him. He tracked back, especially in the first half, and when he behaves like that you have a better chance to win."