A “reckless” challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts hospitalized Crystal Palace forward Jean Philippe-Mateta during the Eagles’ 3-1 FA Cup fifth round Saturday. Roberts caught Mateta’s head with his boot as he ran out of the penalty area to clear the ball, then sent off just eight minutes into the south London derby at Selhurst Park.
Roberts won the ball before inadvertently smashing his boot into Mateta’s head, and Referee Michael Oliver only awarded a red card following a VAR review of the challenge. Before being stretched to an ambulance and driven to a hospital, Mateta underwent extended treatment including oxygen on the pitch.
Oliver Glasner, the manager of the palace, verified Mateta had a major ear damage but added the collision might have cut off the Frenchman’s career.
“Just imagine if he strikes his face straight, with his power, with the studs, it is the end of JP’s career,” Glasner remarked.
Mateta has 15 goals overall for Palace this season, having scored eight in his past nine outings. Steve Parish, chairman of Palace, called it the “most reckless challenge” he had ever seen.
“That is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I have seen and I think he needs to have a long hard look at himself, that lad, because he is endangering a fellow professional, maybe his life, with a challenge like that,” Parish told the BBC.
