‘Ozil is over Bayern penalty miss now’

Arsene Wenger believes Mesut Ozil has now recovered from his penalty miss against Bayern Munich last month.

The Germany international saw his ninth-minute spot kick saved by Manuel Neuer as the 10-man Gunners were beaten 2-0 at Emirates Stadium.

Ozil scored his first goal in three months against Everton on Saturday, and his influential display gave Wenger much to be optimistic about.

“He was absolutely in a different physical shape, even if he played nearly 90 minutes on Wednesday night against Chile,” the Arsenal manager said.

“It was quite a tough game but sometimes when you have two tough games like that it helps you to recover.

“I like the way he finished, calm in a convincing way. He made great runs and he was absolutely outstanding from the first to the last minute.”

“[The missed penalty against Bayern] affected him mentally too much,” Wenger added. “It was not only physical, it was mental. He had the feeling he let the team down at a very important moment. That affected his performance very much.

“Psychologically sometimes the wound is like a physical one. You can talk and talk and talk, but it takes time. You just have to leave it to time. I think he is over it. He has a good opportunity to show on Tuesday night how good he is.”

Wenger is delighted with Ozil’s improved form and says he will continue to work hard to get the very best out of the 25-year-old.

“I would like him to find the right balance between being a provider and finisher,” he said. “At the moment the balance is a bit detrimental to the finishing. His strong side is providing.

“But he is pacy, much quicker than people think he is, and with that technical quality and pace, if he gets into the right areas and with the service he has, he can score goals. He wants to score more goals, I am convinced of that.”