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Pulis accuses Sanchez of 'cheating' in post-match rant

Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge

West Brom manager Tony Pulis didn't mince words when it came to his assessment of Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, accusing the Chilean international of "cheating" by diving to draw game-changing decisions.

Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette scored twice to give the Gunners a 2-0 win at the Emirates and while Pulis was displeased with a missed penalty call for his own side, he had stern words for both Sanchez and referee Robert Madley when speaking with Sky Sports after the match.

"I think everybody has seen what's happened today," Pulis said. "I think if you want to make an example of something, Sanchez actually dives on the edge of the box for the first free-kick. And he should be booked for diving there, in my opinion.

"Then you see the tackle in the box on Jay, the referee's got a great view, it's a stonewall penalty. The great thing is everybody has seen it, so they make their decisions. I don't have to talk about it and I don't want to talk about it.

"It's not only a foul, the player could be sent off as well. So it could be a penalty and playing against 10 men."

The Baggies were denied a clear-cut penalty early in the tilt when Shkodran Mustafi looked to trip Jay Rodriguez in the box, but the English attacker chose to carry on and smacked the post with a follow-up effort. Madley later awarded a spot-kick to Arsenal, which, on top of a contentious free-kick, left Pulis less than pleased.

"The disappointing thing tonight is Sanchez dives for the first free-kick, not the one they score off, and he should be booked. That's cheating," Pulis said.

"Jay is honest, and doesn't get his reward for being honest. We haven't had a penalty at this football club for over a year. And none of my players are told to roll around.

"The public out there, and everybody in the studio would have seen the referee's performance, so let them decide what they think. They won't get fined for that."

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