Unai Emery Responds to Sean Dyche After Arsenal Accused of ‘Diving’ vs. Burnley

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Unai Emery has rejected Burnley boss Sean Dyche’s accusation that Arsenal players dived during the Gunners’ 3-1 win over the Clarets in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the win, Emery said: “I do not agree with him. Also we can and need everybody and for the first time we are leading at half-time of a match in a Premier League. And we need the respect of a referee and we need respect between us.”

Arsenal’s head coach also talked about the visitors’ physical approach to the game: “We expected long balls, section actions, pushes—they also have good players and their attacking players created problems for us.”

Emery’s words came after Dyche’s post-match interviews were dominated with talk of diving. The 47-year-old detailed more than one incident:

Dyche eventually referenced Matteo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil, according to David Hytner of the Guardian. He called such antics “absolute cheating.”

Emery wasn’t the only one to disagree with Dyche’s take, though. Some deemed his words as merely an attempt to distract from his team’s battle against relegation:

The Clarets likely need the distraction after losing for the 12th time in 18 league matches to remain in the bottom three.

Two goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and one from substitute Alex Iwobi were enough for Arsenal to win what devolved into a scrappy game at times, with several fouls committed by both sides.

While there were seven yellow cards dished out, Dyche’s men collected five of them. Ashley Barnes, who scored the Clarets’ lone goal, was one of the players booked a escaped a second caution after appearing to stamp on Guendouzi.

Dyche may not have seen the incident, but he couldn’t escape criticism for his team’s style of play:

Trying to draw a moral distinction between overtly physical challenges and diving is an exercise in futility. Both are ways for teams to gain an unfair advantage during any match.

Yet while there’s an element of a double standard within Dyche’s comments, his basic sentiment that diving needs to stop is beyond dispute. Nor can Emery afford to brush the question off so easily.

The Spaniard saw three players, including Guendouzi and Xhaka, receive yellow cards for simulation when Arsenal beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 earlier in December.

Dyche’s subsequent accusations of similar offences won’t just put Emery on the defensive. They may also have referees paying extra attention to how Arsenal players react when they are challenged.