Dyche Hails Defour's "Marvellous Moment"
Sean Dyche described Steven Defour’s classy chip as a “marvellous moment” as Burnley eased past Bristol City to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
The Belgian international capped a man of the match performance with an unbelievable second goal to finally kill off the Robins, following Sam Vokes’ opener on the stroke of half time.
And boss Dyche insisted Defour deserved all the plaudits following his goal of the season contender.
“What a fantastic finish” purred Dyche. “It was absolutely sublime and a marvellous moment following a very good team performance.
The 68th minute move started when Nick Pope punched away a City free kick, which the returning Johann Berg Gudmundsson carried clear.
He then exchanged passes with Defour twice on a charge upfield before the Belgian international audaciously scooped the ball over disbelieving German keeper Fabian Giefer.
Dyche added: “Steven makes good runs anyway, we know that, but he’s just found that moment of clarity that comes with quality players and it’s just a sublime finish, It’s as simple as that.
“He is a very quality footballer, but English football is different and the Premier League is different. It can be highly technical and highly physical and very demanding with the amount of distance you cover.
“I said at the start of the season it would take time, but he is adjusting and I think he’s getting there.
Defour’s goal took the honours, on a day when Vokes opened the scoring with the last kick of the first half, to register his 50th goal for the club.
Dyche added: “Sam has been a good servant to the club and he deserved that. He is maturing into a very good player, so I’m pleased for him and the club today.
“They had one golden chance at the end of the first half, which Nick made a good save from. But other than that we controlled most of the first half and to go in a goal up made a big difference to the feel of the game.
The fifth-round draw takes place on Monday night, and Dyche added: “We knew it was important to give a performance, and we got what we wanted, which was a win, so we’ll take whoever comes now.