Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has revealed how pleased he was with his squad's response in their 5-0 victory over Lincoln City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, after a difficult exit from the Champions League earlier in the week.

Bouncing back

After the 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in mid-week, the Gunners showed their class against their non-league opponents on Saturday to book their place in a Wembley semi-final.

Wenger told his post-match press conference: "Overall we had to respond today and that’s what we did. I felt as well that the team had performed well against Bayern and I wanted to give them a chance to find their confidence back by winning the next game. That’s why I maintained 90 per-cent of the players in the starting line-up."

After an even first-half, Arsenal got themselves in front thanks to Theo Walcott’s deflected strike in added time of the first 45 minutes.

The lead was double when Olivier Giroud tapped into an open goal after an excellent team move and an own goal from Lincoln captain Luke Waterfall put Arsenal in full control.

Alexis Sánchez’s excellent long-range strike made it 4-0 before Aaron Ramsey tapped in from close-range to complete the scoring.

Respect to their non-league visitors

“Overall I am of course happy that we won the game today,” Wenger continued afterwards.

“But I know that what is in front of us is more important. To keep the team focused, we go to West Bromwich Albion and after we have an international break.”

Despite the dominate scoreline, the Arsenal boss was full of praise towards Arsenal’s non-league opponents.

He admitted that there "was always a level of anxiety" because Lincol "are unpredictable" and they "knocked out Burnley, Ipswich and Brighton" which meant they had to "respect them."

The Frenchman added: “It was all us in the second half but you have to congratulate Lincoln for what they have achieved in the FA Cup.”

Arsenal have been given ball number four in the draw for the semi-finals, which will be conducted on Monday night.

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