Dyche’s fury at Arsenal’s ‘divers’ as the Clarets lose

SEAN Dyche accused Arsenal players of diving as his side were beaten 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

A Pierre-emerick Aubameyang brace put the Gunners on course for three points before Ashley Barnes halved the arrears for the visitors - only for substitute Alex Iwobi to wrap up the victory in stoppage time.

There were a couple of flashpoints during the game and Barnes was arguably lucky to still be on the pitch to score after he had been booked and committed a number of further fouls.

Granit Xhaka was involved in a touchline spat after a challenge went against Burnley on halfway, while Mesut Ozil remonstrated with referee Kevin Friend having had a free-kick shout turned down.

Alexandre Lacazette also seemed to go down easily under pressure in the away penalty area, and the Gunners were criticised by an unhappy Dyche.

“We certainly didn’t get a lot today with the decisions,” a visibly angry Clarets boss said.

“Where do you want to start with the decisions? Shall we start with the 61 games without a penalty? And a clear double-handed push in the back on Kevin Long. That’s a pretty good place to start, I think.

“There were two dives. No one seems to want to do anything about diving in the game apart from me. I’m still amazed by it.

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery felt Dyche was incorrect in his assessment. “It is not my spirit,” he said. “Diving, I think, is not correct. We need to respect the referee’s decision. VAR is coming here in the future and I think this will help the referees, because the referees can make mistakes, like us.”