Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts was sent off for a horror challenge on Jean-Phillippe Mateta that saw him hit the striker in the head with a flying boot, leaving him needing lengthy treatment on the pitch
Crystal Palace forward Jean-Phillippe Mateta has suffered two head injuries following his horror challenge by Millwall keeper Liam Roberts, owner Steve Parish has confirmed.
Mateta appeared unconscious after being taken out by a high boot to the head from Roberts, who was sent off in the eighth minute of the game.
The striker received lengthy treatment on the pitch before being stretchered off and Parish has now confirmed that Mateta has a “bad gash behind his ear” in addition to a head injury.
He told BBC Sport: “So far what we know, he has a bad gash behind his ear and a head injury. He’s at the hospital, we hope for the best. There’s a lot of emotion in football but we need to talk about that challenge.
“In all the time I’ve watched football, I’ve never seen a challenge like it. I looked to see how old the ‘keeper was, he’s 30 years old. That is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen, and I think he needs to have a long, hard look at himself, that lad, because he’s maybe endangering a fellow professional’s life with a challenge like that.
“It’s very difficult for me to talk about the rest of the game because we’re worried about JP [Mateta]. And it’s just a terrible, terrible challenge.”
“They’re professionals and they have to treat each other like professionals and have a duty of care for your fellow professionals’
“That ‘keeper has not had one [duty of care]. Credit to the players carrying on and it is difficult for me to think about anything else with JP in hospital. In all the time I’ve watched football, someone mentioned there was one like it in the World Cup in 1982.
“Why the referee needed to go to the screen I’ve got no idea. He’s a human being, forget he’s a football player – it is not a normal challenge. We want to progress, but it is difficult for me to look past that challenge.”
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