Cardiff City 0-2 Manchester City: 5 Talking Points

#3 Joe Bennett's horror tackle

The horror challenge

During one City attack in the first half, Leroy Sane was looking to take the Cardiff defenders all by himself and managed to whizz past them to go through on goal. But when it seemed like Sane was going to get one on one with the keeper, Cardiff's Joe Bennett took Sane out with a dangerous tackle.

Bennett missed the ball and caught Sane studs up. He received a yellow card for his tackle but in reality, the Cardiff man deserved a straight red. The tackle could have seriously injured Sane and it eventually did, as Sane did not appear on the field for the second half, and is now reportedly out for two to four weeks because of an injury.

Bennett apologized on Twitter after the game and admitted that he mistimed his tackle. Pep Guardiola went completely berserk at full time, arguing with referee Lee Mason at full time. In his press conference, Guardiola called for better protection for young players and criticized the nature of the tackle.

1. Just want to apologise to Leroy Sané for my tackle today. I tried to stop the counter attack and completely mistimed my attempt.

— Joe Bennett (@JoeBennett27) January 28, 2018

2. I didn't mean to catch him like I did. I hope it's nothing serious and he recovers quickly.

— Joe Bennett (@JoeBennett27) January 28, 2018

Bennett did receive his marching orders late in the game after another late tackle on Brahim Diaz. Neil Warnock criticized his player after the match and Germany's national team's Twitter account also got in on the act regarding the cynical challenge but later deleted that tweet.