Arsenal 4-1 Everton

by Amar Azam

at Ashburton Grove

Arsenal remain on course for silverware after easing past Everton to clinch a place in the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in five years.

The Gunners, 10-time winners of the competition, have experienced uneven form of late including a defeat at Stoke in their last match.

But goals from Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta and a pair from Olivier Giroud edged them a step closer to a first trophy since 2005.

Wenger praised the efforts of club record signing Ozil, whose recent performances have attracted criticism.

The German playmaker looked vastly improved against Roberto Martinez's Everton.

He opened the scoring after seven minutes when he finished well after being played in by Santi Carzola following a swift counterattack.

Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta scored from the penalty spot to put Arsenal back in the lead after Everton had equalised through Romelu Lukaku.

Giroud scored two goals in as many minutes late on to see them through to a Wembley semi-final next month.

"We had a quality performance from the first to the last minute against a good side," said Wenger. "We scored the second goal and controlled the game well."

The Arsenal boss hopes his players can build on this victory when they travel to Germany for tomorrow night's Champions League return leg against holders Bayern Munich.

"It was important for us to win to put us in a good frame of mind psychologically," said Wenger, whose side were well beaten 2-0 at home in the first leg last month.

"We can be inspired by our focus and desire and now go to Bayern with the same spirit."

The match is followed by trips to Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, games Arsenal cannot afford to lose if they intend to keep up their title push.