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Jean-Philippe Mateta conscious in hospital with serious ear injury after shocking Millwall challenge
Jean-Philippe Mateta has been hospitalised with a serious ear injury after a shocking challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts. The Crystal Palace striker took a boot to the head in a moment of madness from Roberts during the fifth-round FA Cup clash. Roberts was sent off for serious foul play after a shocking challengeGetty Mateta was rushing onto a through ball and Roberts travelled outside his box to clear with his foot. The goalkeeper collided with the striker’s head at speed and was eventually shown a red card after referee Michael Oliver reviewed the incident at the pitchside VAR monitor. Nine medics arrived on the scene to treat Mateta – who was laid out on the turf for eight minutes. The Frenchman was then lifted onto a stretcher while being administered oxygen – and immediately taken to hospital from a pitchside ambulance. Mateta took to Instagram hours after the game with the following message: “Thank you for your kind messages. I’m doing well. I hope to be back soon. And stronger than ever. Well done guys for the great job today. I love you.” Speaking after Palace progressed to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory, manager Oliver Glasner revealed Mateta is receiving treatment on a serious ear injury. He said: “JP is at hospital and all my information is he’s conscious. But it’s a terrible ear injury. Let’s see. “We can’t really feel this happiness after a win and qualification for the quarter-finals because of this serious injury. “I didn’t want to see, to be honest, because I never want to see fouls. But of course, when I have to talk about it, I have to see it. “To be fair, during the game, you could see this high intensity, but he touched the ball and I couldn’t see the seriousness. But now on the screen and in slow motion, it’s a terrible foul. Play was halted for eight minutes amid concerns over MatetaGetty “It’s the intensity, the foot and the head straight with the studs to the face – terrible. “I don’t want to blame the keeper. I always think every sportsman doesn’t want to injure somebody. But, you know, you have to decide in a different way when you leave your box as a keeper and you can’t risk that injury. “Imagine he hits his head with full contact and it could be the end of his career. So yeah, it was a terrible foul.” Millwall manager Alex Neil defended Roberts, accepting it was a ‘bad challenge’ but insisting he would ‘not accept’ any suggestions of malicious intent. Chairman Steve Parish delivered a rare interview at half-time to express his fury with Roberts’ challenge. Parish told the BBC: “He’s got a bad gash behind his ear and a head injury, he’s at the hospital. We hope for the best. A number of medics rushed onto the scene to treat MatetaGetty There was a lengthy stoppage before Mateta could be put on a stretcherGetty View Tweet: https://twitter.com/hashtag/cpfc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw “You know, 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 and he’s 30-years old. “That’s the most reckless challenge on a football pitch, I think I’ve ever seen. “I think he needs to have a long, hard look at himself that lad. He’s endangering another professional 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 and it’s just a terrible, terrible challenge.” When asked what he thought of the Palace response, Parish added: “They’re professionals and that’s another thing, they’re all professionals out there and they’ve got to treat each other like professionals. Oliver needed to be sent to the screen by VAR officials after initially waving play-onGetty Medics were seen calling for an ambulance to be brought pitchsideGetty “They have a duty of care towards their fellow professionals and that goalkeeper hasn’t had one. Credit to the players for carrying on. “It’s difficult for me to think about anything else with JP in hospital. “As I say, in all my time watching football, I think someone mentioned there was one in the World Cup in 1982 like it, but it’s a dreadful challenge. “And why the referee needed to go to the screen, I have no idea.” Mateta has been a superstar for Oliver Glasner’s side this season, scoring 12 goals in 27 Premier League matches. No top-flight player has scored more goals than the 27-year-old in 2025 – with eight since the turn of the year. Match Stats In the last 12 months, only Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has contributed to more goals in the Premier League than Mateta. Analysing the striker on the talkSPORT Weekend Breakfast show, ex-Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino tipped Mateta for a big summer transfer. Cascarino said: “Palace are going to have
Jean-Philippe Mateta has been hospitalised with a serious ear injury after a shocking challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts.
The Crystal Palace striker took a boot to the head in a moment of madness from Roberts during the fifth-round FA Cup clash.
Mateta was rushing onto a through ball and Roberts travelled outside his box to clear with his foot.
The goalkeeper collided with the striker’s head at speed and was eventually shown a red card after referee Michael Oliver reviewed the incident at the pitchside VAR monitor.
Nine medics arrived on the scene to treat Mateta – who was laid out on the turf for eight minutes.
The Frenchman was then lifted onto a stretcher while being administered oxygen – and immediately taken to hospital from a pitchside ambulance.
Mateta took to Instagram hours after the game with the following message: “Thank you for your kind messages. I’m doing well. I hope to be back soon. And stronger than ever. Well done guys for the great job today. I love you.”
Speaking after Palace progressed to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory, manager Oliver Glasner revealed Mateta is receiving treatment on a serious ear injury.
He said: “JP is at hospital and all my information is he’s conscious. But it’s a terrible ear injury. Let’s see.
“We can’t really feel this happiness after a win and qualification for the quarter-finals because of this serious injury.
“I didn’t want to see, to be honest, because I never want to see fouls. But of course, when I have to talk about it, I have to see it.
“To be fair, during the game, you could see this high intensity, but he touched the ball and I couldn’t see the seriousness. But now on the screen and in slow motion, it’s a terrible foul.
“It’s the intensity, the foot and the head straight with the studs to the face – terrible.
“I don’t want to blame the keeper. I always think every sportsman doesn’t want to injure somebody. But, you know, you have to decide in a different way when you leave your box as a keeper and you can’t risk that injury.
“Imagine he hits his head with full contact and it could be the end of his career. So yeah, it was a terrible foul.”
Millwall manager Alex Neil defended Roberts, accepting it was a ‘bad challenge’ but insisting he would ‘not accept’ any suggestions of malicious intent.
Chairman Steve Parish delivered a rare interview at half-time to express his fury with Roberts’ challenge.
Parish told the BBC: “He’s got a bad gash behind his ear and a head injury, he’s at the hospital. We hope for the best.
“You know, 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 and he’s 30-years old.
“That’s the most reckless challenge on a football pitch, I think I’ve ever seen.
“I think he needs to have a long, hard look at himself that lad. He’s endangering another professional 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 and it’s just a terrible, terrible challenge.”
When asked what he thought of the Palace response, Parish added: “They’re professionals and that’s another thing, they’re all professionals out there and they’ve got to treat each other like professionals.
“They have a duty of care towards their fellow professionals and that goalkeeper hasn’t had one. Credit to the players for carrying on.
“It’s difficult for me to think about anything else with JP in hospital.
“As I say, in all my time watching football, I think someone mentioned there was one in the World Cup in 1982 like it, but it’s a dreadful challenge.
“And why the referee needed to go to the screen, I have no idea.”
Mateta has been a superstar for Oliver Glasner’s side this season, scoring 12 goals in 27 Premier League matches.
No top-flight player has scored more goals than the 27-year-old in 2025 – with eight since the turn of the year.
In the last 12 months, only Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has contributed to more goals in the Premier League than Mateta.
Analysing the striker on the talkSPORT Weekend Breakfast show, ex-Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino tipped Mateta for a big summer transfer.
Cascarino said: “Palace are going to have a job keeping hold of him. Because when we look at strikers sometimes and we go, ‘Does he tick the box for a certain club?’
“Well, I’ll tell you what, there’ll be a lot of clubs who would be looking at him.
“I watched him when he played at Le Havre. I watched him as a very young player. And then he ended up going to Germany, Mainz and all that. And then he’s made his way to England, where he struggled originally. But he’s become a way more complete player.
“He uses his strength. Technically he’s got better as well. His relationship with all the players he’s playing with has really worked for him.
“And now it feels like he’s an absolute nailed on certainty within their team. He’s one of their main players now.”
