FA Cup lessons: What we learned from Wales

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CARDIFF, WALES – JANUARY 28: Joe Bennett of Cardiff City is shown a red card by referee Lee Mason during The Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round between Cardiff City and Manchester City on January 28, 2018 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images) /

Lack Of Protection:

In his post match comments Pep brought this up. To be fair he has been going on about it for a lot of the season, and it hasn’t changed how some sides seem to target the City players. Today Joe Bennett (pictured) was given a red card by referee Lee Mason for a foul.

That came as a second yellow, with his first coming after that tackle on Sane. Replays show that it could easily have been a straight red card, but the referee maybe wasn’t up with play. How fast City break it is possible the referee was still in our half at the time of impact, but the Assistant Referee has no excuse.

Next: City Player Ratings: FA Cup Fourth Round

Earlier on, it was his eagle eyes, which spotted a debatebly offside and disallowed Bernardo Silva’s goal. Yet this was closer, towards him, and he didn’t see it as a red to assist Mr Mason?

It follows on from the Christmas period in which Tottenham and other sides targeted Kevin DeBruyne and co. The line outside the Manchester City physio’s room grew longer than the line to see Santa, but fortunately not many were long-term.

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