Beleaguered Wenger upbeat after quarterfinal romp over Lincoln

LONDON — Arsene Wenger revealed he hasn’t ruled out extending his Arsenal reign after his side eased the pressure on the troubled boss with a 5-0 FA Cup quarterfinal win over unheralded Lincoln.

For weeks Wenger has faced calls for his resignation from angry Arsenal fans, and there were more protests against the beleaguered Frenchman before Saturday’s clash at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners’ comfortable progress to next month’s Wembley semifinals kept the critics off Wenger’s back, days after he was lambasted following last Tuesday’s Champions League humiliation against Bayern Munich.

The Gunners boss, who has yet to confirm if he will extend his contract when it runs out at the end of this season, said his preference is to remain in charge of the Premier League club, but he declined to say how much longer that would be for.

“Let’s not talk about me too much because that has happened a lot recently,” he said.

“I have shown in my life that I try to serve this club with complete commitment and I will do that as long as I am here

“How long? I don’t know at the moment. I have shown a lot of loyalty and my preference is here. I focus on my job. I always do that. I let other people judge my performances.

“People talk and talk and talk; that doesn’t mean they

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talk the truth. We have to deal with that and perform on the pitch. We let people talk and show them what we are about.

“When I have a problem I try to just sort it out. I am competitive and always focused on solving the problems I face. Sometimes the size of the problem is bigger, but there are always problems.”

Wenger said selecting a first choice lineup for Saturday’s game gave his players back their belief after the Champions League trauma.

“We were a bit nervous today because confidence drops when you don’t have a

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was a happy man after his team cruised into the FA Cup semifinals with a comfortable 2-0 win at Premier League rival Middlesbrough on Saturday.

David Silva opened the scoring just three minutes into the match and Sergio Aguero struck again in the 67th minute, with the visitor missing numerous chances in between to win by a bigger margin.

“I am so happy to be there,” Guardiola said after a solid display ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 return leg at Monaco, where City will defend a 5-3 lead.

“We made a good performance, we were there from the