Wenger praises £42m man for ‘dirty work’

MESUT OZIL received rare praise for his ‘dirty work’ as he reminded people why Arsene Wenger paid Real Madrid £42.5mllion for him last summer.

The classy midfielder returned from the wilderness to boost Arsenal’s chances of winning the FA Cup, having been left out recently and being booed off while playing for Germany in midweek.

But he looked back to his world-class best as he set Arsenal on their way to victory with a sublime seventh-minute goal against Everton — his first since December, when he scored against the same club.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, however, was more pleased with the graft and determination from his muchcriticised midfielder.

Wenger was beaming after the 4-1 win over Everton set up a Wembley semi-final date and boosted morale ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League attempt to overturn a two-goal deficit at Bayern Munich.

He said: ‘It was important for him to take his chance because sometimes he looks for the good pass instead. I hope that will encourage him.

‘What I liked is that physically he looked regenerated, having more power in his runs. As well, what I liked was that he did a lot of what you would call “dirty work”. For a player like him, that means he tracked back in the first half, especially on the counter-attack, he came back with long runs and when he behaves like that, of course, you have a better chance to win.’

Arsenal have reached Wembley without leaving London, although Wenger pointed out they had to beat Tottenham, Liverpool then an in-form Everton yesterday.

But he played down talk of capturing their first trophy since they last won the FA Cup in 2005.

Wenger added: ‘We are in the semi-final, mathematically I cannot deny we are closer to a trophy, but practically it is a bit more difficult than that.

‘Let’s see who we have to play in the semi-final and do it again.’

Everton manager Roberto Martinez missed out on the chance of becoming the first manager to win the FA Cup with different clubs in successive seasons, having steered Wigan to glory last year.

His only gripe afterwards was the penalty decision, given when Gareth Barry tripped Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, that led to Arsenal’s crucial second goal.

The Spaniard said: ‘I can see why the referee gave the penalty, although I don’t agree with the decision completely.

‘There is contact but the ball is being challenged for by both of the players.

‘I know now I really don’t like losing in the Cup, but it leaves us more focused on what is in front of us in the league to finish as strong as we can.’