Dyche on City Defeat

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2020-11-28T16:00:00.000Z

Dyche on City Defeat

2020-11-28T16:00:00.000Z

London Calling For Dyche's On-Song Clarets

Sean Dyche cut a frustrated figure as he dissected a fourth straight 5-0 defeat away at Manchester City.

A Riyad Mahrez brace and Benjamin Mendy strike before half time put the hosts in control, before Ferran Torres and Mahrez’s hat-trick put the sheen on City’s win.

And Clarets boss Dyche felt the game slipped away as early as the eighth minute, when a misplaced pass from James Tarkowski led to the opening goal.

“I don’t know what it is about this ground, but it’s the one where we haven’t committed to a real performance, other than the first time in the Premier League, when we drew 2-2,” rued Dyche.

“We’ve never really found our feet here and I don’t know whether that linked into the psychology a little bit.

“There was plenty of stuff in the press this weak about us losing 5-0 here on a few occasions, so maybe that plays into it.

"I certainly don’t think we should be affected by that though. We’ve injuries galore and that made it a real challenge, but we didn’t play to the game plan.

“Then again, to be honest, we didn’t have a chance to because we gave them a leg up by making a mistake, which they capitalised on, as they often do.

“They scored a second from a throw in, taken from the wrong place, and I think VAR should really be looking at that.

Clarets again come unstuck at the Etihad Stadium as Mahrez hat-trick leads City stroll

“In no way might that have changed the outcome, but it does mean that one down you have a chance to calm things down a little.

“At two down you are in for a tough afternoon and we’ll never really know whether we could have affected the game more.

“We did slightly better in the second half and there was a reaction, but you have to react at 0-0, not when you are three goals down.

“That’s a reminder that you have to make sure your mentality and performance is right, rather than getting better when there’s nothing to lose.”

The bright spot for Burnley was a Premier League debut for midfielder Josh Benson, who was making his first start along with Irish goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

PL REPORT: Manchester City 5 Burnley 0 - Image 1

The former Arsenal youngster, 21 next week, was promoted to the starting line-up following a back injury sustained by Josh Brownhill on Friday.

And Benson earned the plaudits from his manager after an accomplished outing on an otherwise disappointing afternoon.

“It was a tough one for Bailey in goal today because the team weren’t operating well in front of him, so it’s tough with some of their finishing prowess, but I thought Josh stuck at it all day,” added the Burnley boss.

“Westy put in a shift alongside him, but Josh did really well. That is a tough day, but he did terrifically well and I told him that after the game, as did the players, so I am pleased for him because it’s a big occasion.

“He did himself no harm at all with the way he conducted himself and the way he went about it.”