Bernardo Silva went down in box under challenge from Burnley's Nick Pope

Penalty was awarded and after the match Sean Dyche saying he 'cheated'

Panel could have retrospectively handed Silva two-game ban for diving

But Dyche's claims fell on deaf ears as they agreed on no sanction for Silva

Bernardo Silva will face no retrospective action after an independent panel deemed he was not guilty of diving during Manchester City’s victory against Burnley.

Silva won a first-half penalty after going down under a challenge from goalkeeper Nick Pope, with Sean Dyche claiming the Portuguese ‘cheated’.

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Sportsmail understands those claims fell on deaf ears, with a three-man panel failing to unanimously agree on the incident.

Bernardo Silva was judged to have been fouled by Nick Pope and a penalty was given

The Manchester City midfielder said after the match that he felt contact on his leg

Silva would have become the first Premier League player hit with a two-match suspension had he been found guilty.

Dyche was incensed by what he perceived to be needless theatrics, while Silva pleaded innocence.

‘If your kid cheated in a maths test you wouldn't go “well done”,’ the Burnley boss fumed.

Sean Dyche was fuming and claimed that Silva had 'cheated' in what he thought was a dive

‘You'd say, “what are you doing?” You'd go down the school and say, “sorry, he cheated, he needs to it again”.

‘But weirdly in football it's almost like “good lad”. I find that weird. Morally I find that really odd.

‘Accidental simulation, as they call it, that happens. There are too many in this league to be accidental.’

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The game was only Silva’s second Premier League start for the club. In fact, eight of his 12 appearances for City have come off the bench since he arrived from Monaco for £43million in the summer.

Silva missed most of pre-season after playing for Portugal at the Confederations Cup in Russia, and has had to wait for his chance in a team packed with world-class attackers as City have stormed to the top of the table with 32 goals in their first nine league games.

‘I have had to be very patient,’ said the 23-year-old former Benfica man. ‘There are a lot of quality players in this team and it’s not easy to play.

Silva has had to remain patient and wait for opportunities in Pep Guardiola's team

‘All the players who have played over the last month or two have been scoring a lot of goals. The team is in form so you have to be patient and help the team as much as we can in the minutes we have.

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‘When you arrive a little bit late you need more time to get to the intensity. Also when you join a new club you need to learn new things – the way the team plays.

‘But with all the support I got it has been much easier for me, and I feel very good here. You learn a lot playing with these players, with this staff and coach, and to play in this amazing stadium.

‘It feels great to be part of this team. Again we played well against Burnley, got the three points and deserved the win. We will try to keep it going and keep in first position.

City have a five-point lead over second place and have impressed with their attacking game

Sergio Aguero is 'great' to play alongside according to Silva who praised his team-mate

‘You cannot always win 7-0 or 7-2, or 6-1 or 5-0. Some games are more complicated than others, and the most important thing is to win the three points and then keep winning, winning, winning.

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‘When you get used to winning, everything is much easier – the atmosphere, everything, goes better and that’s what we are trying to do.

‘Manchester United lost points as well, so we are already five points ahead. We just have to keep doing our job.’

Silva will hope to keep his place for the Carbao Cup fourth round clash with Wolves at the Etihad on Tuesday night. Sergio Aguero is also expected to play as he looks for the goal that would make him City’s all-time top scorer after equalling Eric Brook’s record of 177 with the penalty against Burnley.

Silva added: ‘For me, it’s great to play alongside him and learn from him. To have someone like him on your team is so good. He is Sergio Aguero, a player known all over the world. He has scored almost 200 goals for Man City – he is a legend!’