Big clubs get the big calls, fumes Dyche
Arsene Wenger, needless to say, could not comprehend what all the fuss was about after a dramatic case of history repeating itself had put his side into the top four.
‘He was pushed in the back,’ Wenger said of the shove on Aaron ramsey which gave Alexis sanchez the chance to score a 92nd-minute penalty — 14 months after Arsenal had won here in the 93rd minute, through a goal Laurent Koscielny touched in with an arm from an offside position.
‘He had a problem in the neck from the push,’ Wenger added in defence of ramsey. ‘It was a very strong push.’
sean Dyche admitted there was an infringement. ‘You lay your hands on someone, he goes down,’ he said. But he added: ‘There’s a lot of me inside that’s raging,’ and risked an FA charge last night by implying that referees were biased in favour of the bigger clubs.
Burnley, he said, would never have been handed a late break like this. ‘We’ve had those not given,’ he said. ‘The bigger clubs seem to get the decisions. I’m not sure if it’s fact. Managers for years have been promoting this thought.’
His frustration was not with the theatrical way that ramsey dropped to the floor like a stone — ‘that was a smash in the back compared to what most people go down with’ — as with the fact that the header Koscielny had sent across was sailing four feet above ramsey’s head. ‘The ball is going over him,’ he said.
To be fair to Dyche, the current run of events against Arsenal would test the patience of a saint. There was also the 98th-minute penalty his team conceded at the emirates last season — awarded immediately after an offside against Wenger’s team had been overlooked.
‘I can’t wait to go down there again,’ said Dyche. ‘Three times that happened, all involved in referee’s moments. I’d like to speak to someone who deals in stats about that.’
As so often, the controversy obscured a broader, more important picture. Arsenal are ahead of Tottenham again and a point behind Chelsea, yet they were insipid at times.
The match had not even started when we saw more evidence of that lack of intensity which means you can never be sure which Arsenal will turn up. They arrived late — a mere 52 minutes before kick-off — and did not set foot on the Burnley turf until 1.28pm, 32 minutes before kick-off.
Wenger mumbled something about ‘traffic problems’. Unforgivable. This kind of thing has happened before.
Mesut Ozil had not made the journey at all. He left the team hotel with an unspecified illness. This all set a tone. Arsenal looked just like a side who had stumbled into the ground late, taking 51 minutes to muster a shot on goal.
Wenger had talked about Burnley having the properties of a snake — ‘They put you in their face and they bite you,’ he said before the match.
But there was nothing scheming about a first half in which the visiting side were submitted to an aerial bombardment.
Burnley’s Icelander Johann Berg gudmundsson threatened most, taking the ball outside nacho Monreal and hitting a bullet shot which Petr Cech touched on to a post after 15 minutes. robbie Brady set up that chance, and he was at the hub of a performance which deconstructed preconceptions that it is Dyche’s defence alone which is behind Burnley’s best start in 43 years.
sanchez was the fulcrum for a more animated second-half display from Arsenal. Don’t let it be said that his continued presence at this club is provoking a sulk because his body language told how much he wanted the match won.
When the late twist came, the Chilean converted the penalty and celebrated passionately, screaming into the bitterly cold Lancashire night. It was proof that if they sell him in January, Arsenal are finished this season.