Crystal Palace manager says Jean-Philippe Mateta suffered a “very serious” head injury after being on the end of a horror challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts in the FA Cup.
Mateta was taken to hospital after Roberts kicked the French forward in the head in an attempt to win the ball in the air. The 27-year-old received oxygen on the pitch before being stretchered off the Selhurst Park pitch and replaced by Eddie Nketiah.
Roberts was sent off by referee Michael Oliver following a VAR review as Palace went on to beat ten-man Millwall and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Crystal Palace boss issues “serious” Mateta injury update
After the final whistle Glasner said that Mateta is awake, but has suffered a “terrible” injury to his ear. The German felt that, while Roberts’ foul was unintentional, it was unacceptably dangerous.
“He is conscious and he is in hospital,” he told BBC Sport. “His ear looks terrible. It’s a very serious injury so we hope all the best for him.
“We are not really happy, we can’t be really happy. Of course, it’s a great win and into the quarter-finals but when you lose a player, especially with a foul like this, you have two different feelings in your stomach.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to see it, I just watched it and it is terrible. I’m sure the goalkeeper didn’t want to injure JP in this situation, no player wants this. But if you got to the ball with this intensity, with the foot at that height, you can’t do it because it’s so dangerous and we all have responsibilities for our health. I don’t want to blame him but it is a terrible foul.
