Arsene’s positive thinking

ARSENE WENGER hailed the spirit of his Arsenal players as they fought their way into the last four of the Carabao Cup.

Wenger said: “The goal will be good for Danny Welbeck and it is positive. We played with quality and spirit. Over the 90 minutes we looked very solid and were not tested at the back by West Ham.

“In the end it was down to not making a mistake – but it was positive night for us. I think it was an intense game – but West Ham defended well and did not want to give us any space.”

But Wenger’s satisfaction was tempered by the news that Olivier Giroud picked up a hamstring injury which will rule him out for three weeks.

The Arsenal manager said: “What is worrying with a tough schedule now is when you get injuries because it puts pressure on the rest of the squad.”

Wenger, right, has won the Premier League three times and the FA Cup seven times but never tasted success in the League Cup. This will be the Gunners first semi-final since 2011.

There were only nine shots in a dismal match – and only one on target – Welbeck’s scrambled winner after hesitation in the West Ham defence two minutes before half-time.

West Ham, who had gone into the game on the back of a run of three games unbeaten under new manager David Moyes, were poor. Moyes said: “I was disappointed with our overall performance. We couldn’t stop the possession Arsenal had, and we gave away a horrible goal. We have been defending well. “With the goal I was hoping our centre halves could clear the ball but we didn’t deal with it.” A further blow for the Hammers boss was midfielder Manuel Lanzini being handed a two-game ban for diving in the win at Stoke at the weekend. Moyes said: “I wonder how they could get to that decision. I don’t see how it could have been unanimous.”