SEAN Dyche said he was 'aggrieved' at the decision to allow Manchester City to take a quick free-kick that led to their equaliser at the Etihad.

The Clarets were 1-0 up and looking comfortable in the FA Cup third round tie when Graham Scott allowed Ilkay Gundogan to take the set-piece quickly, threading a ball through for Sergio Aguero to equalise after 56 minutes.

That cancelled out Ashley Barnes' 25th minute opener and by the hour mark Aguero had put City ahead before Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva added some gloss to the scoreline.

But Dyche was disappointed with the decision to allow a quick free-kick to be taken and called for a 'common sense' approach from the officials.

"It was a bit of a contentious one," the Clarets chief said of the equaliser.

"I spoke to the referee and he said he doesn’t have to blow the whistle, but I think when Ashley Westwood is five yards away motioning to say ‘are you going to blow the whistle?’ and he is the man who would be in the slot where they pass it to, I’m bound to be aggrieved.

“Sometimes in football, the rule might be the rule, but there’s a common sense moment, especially from experienced referees where they think ‘hang on, that’s the player that’s got to be in that slot, and I’ve just allowed it to be passed through there when he’s five yards away from the free kick, motioning towards me, are you going to blow the whistle?’"

Within 94 seconds Aguero had doubled his tally and Dyche said his side's defending during that spell was his biggest disappointment with his own team as they exited the cup.

"The next minute and a half (after the first goal) was my biggest gripe," he said. "We looked a bit punch drunk, we didn’t clear our lines on two occasions, our shape went a little bit, and teams like this have the power to almost smell that moment, and then pick up their tempo.

“They did, and scored the second.

“Then we had to go for it, there’s no point, it’s the FA Cup.

“We made changes, we’ve got to protect the team at the minute with injuries, and once they’re in front, it’s difficult."

After the equaliser Dyche and assistant Ian Woan exchanged heated words with Pep Guardiola on the touchline, but the Turf boss played down that confrontation after the game.

"You both fight, you both want to win, you both want your teams to win, that’s just how it should be," Dyche said.

"Everyone is allowed to be passionate I believe."

Both sides made less changes than expected, with Dyche making four alterations to his last league side and Guardiola just three.

“I don’t know their thinking, but it could be seen as a sign of respect," the Burnley boss said.

"It could be a sign they definitely want to get the job done.

"We put out a side we thought is probably as, at the moment, certainly the fittest and clearest side we can put out, and I was pretty pleased with it."