Diving is rife and ruining football says angry Dyche
Arsenal star sets up win but must do even more
BURNLEY manager Sean Dyche has called on football’s governing bodies to stamp out diving which, he says, has ‘gone too far’.
Dyche has been vocal about diving in the past — claiming authorities have told him not to use the word ‘cheating’ when referring to it — but reiterated his stance after accusing three Arsenal players of doing it during Burnley’s 3-1 defeat yesterday.
‘No one seems to want to do anything about diving apart from me,’ he said. ‘I’m still amazed by it. Kids everywhere are watching, all copying it. No one seems to care about it. I want to see people banned because, if they were, it would evaporate out of the game.
‘You wouldn’t ruffle your kids’ hair if they come home after school and cheated in a maths test. They cheat at a game of football and it’s OK. It’s almost like “well done. We got away with that one”.
‘I’m talking about blatant diving. Cheating. Where there has been no contact at all and people are falling over. The powers-that-be have to get their heads together.’
It is believed that Dyche was responding to incidents involving Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi.
Arsenal3
Aubameyang 14, 48, Iwobi 90
Burnley 1
Barnes 63
NO ONE splits opinion like Mesut Ozil. No one splits defences like him either.
Truth be told, the mercurial midfielder flitted in and out of this jittery win over Burnley. His contribution, though, was decisive.
Therein lies why Ozil poses such a problem for Unai Emery. Almost the antithesis of what the Arsenal manager demands in terms of work ethic, Ozil at tims strutted round the Emirates yesterday without a care in the world.
Without him, however, they may not have beaten Burnley. The star of the show was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang — a brace taking his season tally to 15.
But for elegance and grandeur, Ozil was the only show in town in this petulant, scrappy affair.
Sean Dyche’s post-match rant in accusing Arsenal players of diving illustrated the ill-feeling that developed during the game.
But within the madness of it all Ozil provided some poetry. With one swing of his left foot and a mesmeric run, the German brought Burnley to their knees.
Here, on his first Premier League start since November 11, Ozil — wearing the captain’s armband — showed exactly why we shouldn’t discount him from Arsenal’s future just yet. His pre-assist that led to Arsenal’s opener seared through the heart of Burnley.
Se ad Kolas in ac’ s resultant cut- back was inch perfect and Aubameyang’s finish was almost nonchalant. The striker’ s celebration was anything but as he launched himself into a trademark summers au lt. He took the adulation, he deserves it. But what came before deserves its portion of praise.
Eighteen passes, Ozil’s the best of the lot. What vision.
For t hose watching at home Kolasinac wasn’t even in t he picture as Ozil drew his left foot back to execute the pass. Unsurprisingly, at least to some, Arsenal’ s No 10 spotted him. Brilliant one minute, lacklustre the
next. You don’t envy Emery’s dilemma. But with shows of quality like this Emery simply can’t ignore Ozil.
Whether Burnley can drag themselves away from the lower reaches of the Premier League — and a relegation scrap — will not depend on this result. But one win in 11 games illustrates a worrying trend as they head into two crucial home games against Everton and West Ham.
The rest of the half was bitty, Ashley Barnes booked for his angry reaction at a typically robust challenge from Sokratis.
The Burnley forward was adamant the Greek defender aimed an elbow at him, his team-mates agreed as they rushed to the scene to spark an angry confrontation between both sets of players.
Sokratis and Barnes clashed again moments before the break, the Gunners defender hauling back the attacker. Again there were handbags, again there was a yellow card — this time for Sokratis.
The Greece international has just returned from a suspension after accumulating five bookings — and he’s on the way quickly to another ban.
Emery could do without losing his key central defender anytime soon, Nacho Monreal compounding his worrying defensive crisis by limping off before the break.
The injury forced Emery into a defensive reshuffle, converting to a back three in a move that saw midfielder Granit Xhaka deployed as a centre back. Arsenal’ s makeshift defence would serve to encourage Burnley at the break.
Indeed, the fact that his side were heading in at half-time ahead for the first time in a Premier League game this season wouldn’t have had Emery completely satisfied. Given how many times Arsenal have been forced to come from behind this season, the Spaniard knows all about slender leads. As it turned out, he didn’t need to worry — Arsenal doubling their lead within three minutes of the restart.
The counter-attack, which involved Kolas in ac, Matteo Guendouzi and Alexandre Lacazette, was breathtaking.
Aubmeyang’s fierce finish was just as impressive.
Game over? Not quite. Barnes breathed life into Burnley in the 63rd minute, punishing Arsenal from close range after the London club failed to clear their lines.
Before the goal Jack Cork had looked rather fortunate to escape a red card for a late challenge on Guendouzi. So did Barnes, who also appeared to deliberately stamp on Arsenal’s French midfielder just before his goal.
But at this point that was neither here nor there. Having looked entirely comfortable, Arsenal were rattled. Cork missed a good opportunity to equalise in the 69th minute before Charlie Taylor hit the sidenetting after more tame Arsenal defending.
Lacazette appeared angry at his 77th-minute substitution for Alex Iwobi, the striker involved in a heated exchange with Mohamed Elneny as he trudged off.
In the end, however, Iwobi made a telling contribution, firing home from a tight angle in injury-time.
Once again Ozil was the creator. With the ball glued to his feet, the German tore through the heart of Burnley’s right side before the ball broke to Iwobi, who applied the finish. More Ozil magic and Arsenal back to winning ways after two successive losses.
The game ended in controversial circumstances when both managers exchanged angry words j ust moments after t he f i nal whistle. There was nothing angry about Ozil’s contribution, though. Entirely cool, entirely calm. Totally magical.