Manchester City on Sunday sailed past Cardiff City into the FA Cup Fifth Round but their 2-0 victory came at a steep cost as star winger Leroy Sane suffered an ankle injury during the tie and is looking at an four week injury lay-off.

The German wideman, who has been in sensational form this season, sprinted the length of the pitch to fashion a clear chance, but last-man Joe Bennet scythed him down from behind and the 22-year-old crumpled to the pitch in agony.

Don’t miss: Chelsea, Manchester City cruise into next round

Match referee controversially chose to give Bennet a yellow card, not a sending-off, despite the fact that Bennet got nowhere near the ball and was effectively the final defender.
The incident took place just before the interval and Sergio Aguero replaced Sane at half-time with the German not in a state to play on for the second-half.

At his post-match press conference, City manager Pep Guardioala revealed he expected the fleet-footed German to miss out on first-team action for approximately a month as he called on the officials to protect players more.

“They (officials) have to protect the players. Not my players. All players.

They (refs) are there to protect the players. When there is fault, there is fault, and when it is dangerous, it is dangerous.”

City were contentiously denied a first-half goal when Bernardo Silva blasted the ball into the back of the net, but Pep wasn’t upset with that as he continued, “I don’t understand the goal (Bernardo) that we didn’t get, but that is okay. We can accept that. But they have to protect the players. They have to do their job”.

The games Sane is expected to miss are:

West Bromwich Albion (Premier League-home), Burnley (Premier League-away), Leicester City (Premier League-home), FC Basel (UEFA Champions League-away) and Arsenal (EFL Cup Final).

Must read: Diego Maradona signs jersey for Manchester United star Nemanja Matic

The fact that Sane will miss the first leg of their continental cup tie against Basel (February 13) is a big blow but City’s chances of a quadruple have taken a hit as the winger will likely be missing when the Sky Blues take on Arsenal in the EFL Cup final (February 25).

City are already without the services of Fabian Delph, Benjamin Mendy, Gabriel Jesus and Sane’s addition to the casualty list will worry Pep Guardiola to no end as he will be forced to reshuffle his squad for Wednesday’s Premier League clash at the Etihad with West Bromwich Albion.