President Crystal Palace Steve Parish called the incident that resulted in the striker Jean-Philippe Mateta taken to the hospital “The most amazing challenge I have ever seen.”
Mateta got oxygen and had to be stretched out during Palace’s fifth round Fa Cup 3-1 over Millwall after suffering a head injury when he was caught by goalkeeper Liam Roberts’ boot after eight minutes.
Roberts was sent after a review of a video for a video for a video of the assistant (VAR) during a game in Selhurst Park, who rushed from his line to clean the long ball, but instead hit the side of Matet’s head.
At the end of the first half, thirteen minutes were added with Palace 2-0 up after his own goal Japhet Tangang and hit Daniel Munoz.
Mateta replacement, Eddie Nketiah, then added the third late to seal the progression into the quarter finals.
“The most reckless challenge on the football field that I think I have ever seen.” 😳
President Crystal Palace Steve Parish had several strong words to challenge Liama Roberts for which Jean-Philippe Mateta stretched out. pic.twitter.com/phtye7szir
– Match of the Day (@bbcmotd) March 1, 2025
The parish did not refrain when he spoke to the BBC at halftime: “For now, what we know is [Mateta] He has a bad gash behind his ear. It’s obviously in the hospital.
“I watched football all the time, I didn’t see a challenge like that. It’s the most unusual challenge on the football field that I think I have ever seen, and I think he [Roberts] It takes a long time, hard to look at yourself because he threatens a professional colleague and maybe his life.
“It’s hard for me to talk about the rest of the game. It’s a terrible challenge.”
Mateta has been in excellent form for Eagles this season, scoring 15 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions, including eight in the last eight games of the Premier League.
