Burnley boss Sean Dyche feels like he's the only one speaking out against diving after Manchester City defeat: 'I don't think anyone seems to want to change it apart from me'

  • Manchester City stayed top as they defeated Burnley 3-0 in the Premier League 
  • Burnley's boss was left angry after Bernardo Silva's won a penalty for the hosts
  • At times, Sean Dyche must feel he is leading the fight against diving on his own

The day was all about record-breakers. Manchester City's 11th win in a row and Sergio Aguero now poised to replace Eric Brook as the club's all-time top scorer.

Sean Dyche, on the other hand, just sounded like a broken record. At times, the Burnley manager must feel like he is leading the fight against diving all on his own.

Dyche has railed against it long enough and rather optimistically believed the introduction of retrospective bans for simulation this season would stamp out the problem in six months.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche was left angry after City were awarded a first-half spot kick on Saturday

Burnley boss Sean Dyche was left angry after City were awarded a first-half spot kick

Season at a glance

  • Premier League
  • Premier League
  • Championship
  • League One
  • League Two
  • Scottish Premiership
  • Scottish Div 1
  • Scottish Div 2
  • Scottish Div 3
  • Ligue 1
  • Serie A
  • La Liga
  • Bundesliga

But after Bernardo Silva's tumble led to the penalty decision that broke Burnley's resistance at the Etihad, Dyche came across as a man who fears he is fighting a losing battle.


'I don't think anyone seems to want to change it apart from me,' said Dyche. 

'It's the moral values of the game that I worry about. If your kid cheated in a maths test, you wouldn't go 'Well done'. You'd say, 'What are you doing?' You'd go down the school and say, 'Sorry, he cheated, he needs to do that again'.

'But, in football, it's almost like 'good lad'. I find that really weird. Morally, I find that really odd. Accidental simulation, as they call it, happens. But there are too many in this league to be accidental.

'You have to stand for something and it's just not for me.'

The debate surrounding Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope's challenge on Silva is complicated by the fact that there was indeed contact between the players as they chased a loose ball in the box.

Enough for the Portugal star to go down so theatrically? Dyche didn't think so and the FA will give their verdict on Monday.

Manchester City scored from the resulting penalty and went on to win 3-0 at the Etihad

Manchester City scored from the resulting penalty and went on to win 3-0 at the Etihad

Silva went to ground after keeper Nick Pope came to meet him

Silva theatrically threw himself to the ground after keeper Nick Pope came to challenge him

GRAHAM POLL ON BERNARDO SILVA'S 'DIVING'

Manchester City’s opening goal came courtesy of a ‘modern’ penalty; the type of soft foul which while almost everyone accepts is a penalty almost all should feel uncomfortable seeing it.

Bernardo Silva went into the Burnley penalty area and keeper Nick Pope tried to knock the ball away from him. Silva got to the ball first and nicked it away from Pope, who then brushed the Portuguese midfielder who, totally in keeping with the current trend, theatrically threw himself to the ground.

The fall was totally out of context with the contact but referee Roger East felt duty-bound to point to the penalty mark. He was correct but why does it feel so wrong?

- Graham Poll

Advertisement

The video will be studied and a decision made on whether to refer it to a three-man panel made up of an ex-referee, an ex-player and an ex-manager.

If each one were to decide Silva dived, he could become the first Premier League player to be hit with a mandatory two-match retrospective ban for simulation.

Given that it has to be an obvious case of cheating, City's £43million summer signing will be hopeful of avoiding punishment.

Silva has no doubts that he was justified in going down. 'He clearly touched me. I felt it,' he said. 'He touched me and my ankle turned. It hurt a little bit and, for me, it was a penalty.' 

It enabled Aguero to score his record-equalling 177th goal for City from the penalty spot, but it would be harsh to suggest the controversy had a decisive impact on the final outcome.

Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane added second-half goals to send Pep Guardiola's side five points clear at the top of the table as the club celebrated 11 successive wins in a single season for the first time. 

'I don't think anyone seems to want to change it apart from me,' the Burnley boss (left) said

'I don't think anyone seems to want to change it apart from me,' the Burnley boss (left) said

CITY'S ELEVEN-GAME WINNING RUN 

2-1 vs Bournemouth

5-0 vs Liverpool

4-0 vs Feyenoord

6-0 vs Watford 

2-1 vs West Brom

5-0 vs Crystal Palace

2-0 vs Shakhtar Donetsk

1-0 vs Chelsea

7-2 vs Stoke

2-1 vs Napoli

3-0 vs Burnley 

Advertisement

City's scintillating start has brought them 32 goals in nine league games but the contribution of new goalkeeper Ederson Moraes has been somewhat overlooked. 

The Brazilian's distribution is key to Guardiola's system — Dyche noted how his long kicks have given City a new dimension — and eight clean sheets in 12 games tell their own story. 

Guardiola also praised the bravery of his £35m signing, who lunged at the feet of Chris Wood and Scott Arfield in the first half, a month after Liverpool striker Sadio Mane's right boot left him requiring eight stitches in his face.

'It's the way I play,' he said.

'If I have to put my hand, my head or my foot there to help the team, that's what I'm going to do. I have always played the same way. I have no fear of anything. I knew how physical the game is here.'

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.