MADRID, 1 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Crystal Palace Jean-Philippe Mateta player has had to be hospitalized after receiving a brutal kick in the head by the Millwall Liam Roberts goalkeeper during the game that both teams played this Saturday in the round of 16 of the FA Cup.
The incident occurred at the beginning of the first part, in the 8th minute, of the 3-1 victory of Oliver Glasner in Selhurst Park, when Roberts rushed, with his leg extended, to receive an in-depth pass and gave a kick in the head to the striker of the palace.
Mateta was withdrawn from the pitch on a stretcher after a long pause, while he could hear some Millwall fans chant “let him die.”
The president of Crystal Palace, Steve Parish, described what happened as “the most reckless entrance in a football field that I think I have ever seen.” “So far what we know is that it has a good cut behind the ear and a head injury. Obviously, it is in the hospital, so we expect the best. In football there are many emotions, but we have to talk about this,” he told the BBC.
“In all the time I have been watching football, I had never seen such an entrance. I noticed the goalkeeper’s age and I was 30 years old. I think it is the most reckless entrance I have seen in a football field. And I think that kid has to look a lot at himself, because he is endangering a partner, even his life, with such an entrance,” he continued.
In addition, Parish acknowledged that it was “very difficult” to talk about victory after what happened. “We are worried about JP, and it is simply terrible. They are all professionals and have to be treated among them as professionals and be careful with their classmates, and that goalkeeper has not had it,” he said.
Parish also criticized referee Michael Oliver, who turned to VAR after the incident before expelling Roberts with a red card in the 8th minute.