After the 3-0 win against Burnley it was inevitable that talk turned to the penalty award to Manchester City in the first half. Of course, Sergio Aguero converted to open the scoring, but the manner in which it was won will be debated.
After the game, managers hold press conferences, and you can imagine who that went. Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager was critical of it, while Pep simply said the decision was correct.
I will admit that, although I think Bernardo went down a little theatrically, it was a penalty. Even the Burnley manager said he didn’t think it affected the outcome of the game, and I also have to agree. Talking to the media Dyche said this:
"There is contact. I don’t know how the ref sees it because it is that instant, it’s minimal and to get that high off the floor with your arms above your head is almost a skill in itself. I’m quite impressed by how far he travelled. If I kicked my kid in the garden I don’t think he’d fall like that.More from Man City SquareRodri believes City can have even more success this seasonGrealish, Stones, and Kovacic will NOT play tomorrowMy Manchester City UCL Group Stage predictionsAfter Injury Guardiola is back in EtihadPhil Foden Scores Opener for England Against Scotland"
Firstly, I don’t think kicking little Dyche in the back garden is advisable. In fact, it probably shouldn’t be done at all, anywhere. Seriously though, even Dyche admits that, not only was there contact, but that you don’t know how the ref could see it.
We had an incident in a previous game when Leroy Sane was fouled in the area, stayed on his feet, and the penalty never came. In fact, I am not sure if I ever remember a penalty given, in open play, if the player doesn’t go down.
It is possible though that the incident will go to an anonymous three-man panel to judge whether Bernardo duped the referee into giving a penalty. And that’s the key point to remember, not whether the fall was exaggerated but whether there was either no contact or was manufactured by the player.
Next: Manchester City Matchday 9 review
It was less than a week ago when Watford’s Richarlison’s penalty award was put before the panel, and subsequently cleared. So if City’s penalty goes in front of the panel, what can we expect? There will be three professional people who make up the panel. Those are one ex-player, one ex-manager and one ex referee who review the incident independently and make a decision.
Only an agreement that it was a dive will see Bernardo face retrospective action, and only that decision will name the three-man panel. I expect to see no action taken against our Portuguese play-maker.