Arfield keeps Dyche’s unlikely lads thinking the unthinkable
JUST the one point between Burnley and the Champions League places but real evidence of their continued rise came via Sean Dyche shortly after full time.
All well and good sitting on 28 points after 16 matches, but is the target still that magic 40? Surprisingly, the answer was not an emphatic yes.
‘Look, it is really, but we’ve got to try and move on,’ Dyche said. ‘The big thing for me is are we moving forward?’
This was Burnley’s fifth win in seven. Only the Manchester giants boast better defensive records.
Scott Arfield, in for the stricken Robbie Brady, snatched the winner right on half-time, which left Burnley in seventh — six points clear of Watford.
‘Professionally we know all the work that is still to be done,’ Dyche added. ‘From a fan point of view it is fantastic to look at it and see how we’re doing.’
This was by no means routine. Marco Silva and the majority of his backroom staff left here incandescent at Lee Probert’s officiating and considered defeat a huge missed opportunity, even after Marvin Zeegelaar’s disputed 39th-minute red card.
Zeegelaar, eyes on the ball, jumped at Steven Defour with both feet. Defour was left in a heap, clutching his ankle, as the offender looked on in astonished bewilderment at Probert reaching for red.
‘Definite red card,’ said Dyche. Silva was on a different page: ‘It’s a harsh, harsh decision. It is not fair.’
Regardless, Watford were behind six minutes later. Silva had reshuffled his pack with left-back Jose Holebas introduced and Arfield’s strike was a product of the away side’s confusion.
Richarlison gave possession away and Johann Berg Gudmundsson picked out Arfield at the back post. Arfield zipped past Daryl Janmaat and beat Heurelho Gomes.
At the end, Silva pursued Probert. ‘He didn’t want to speak,’ he said. ‘I don’t know why. For me it is clear: they cannot control a normal match with two fair teams.’