Crystal Palace booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals but the victory over Championship side Millwall was overshadowed by a serious injury to Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta who was taken to hospital following a horrendous sixth-minute challenge by Liam Roberts that led to the Millwall goalkeeper being sent off.
Steve Parish, the Crystal Palace chairman, accused Roberts of making “the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I have I have ever seen” after the goalkeeper raced out of his penalty area to clear a through ball and was off the ground when he struck Mateta’s head with his studs. The Palace forward was treated on the pitch for more than eight minutes during which time he was the target of chants of “let him die” from the visiting supporters. Mateta was eventually carried to an ambulance and taken to hospital, before being discharged having had 25 stitches in his left ear.
“We are very pleased to confirm that JP Mateta has this evening been discharged from St George’s Hospital, where he received specialist treatment and 25 stitches to a severe laceration to his left ear,” Palace said in a statement on Saturday night. “All scans were clear and JP is feeling well. He will now rest and recuperate over the following days where his progress will be monitored by our club doctor.”
The incident added to the tension surrounding this south London derby but Palace regrouped following the loss of their leading scorer to take control of the tie. Eddie Nketiah, Mateta’s replacement, had an effort ruled out for offside within two minutes of the game restarting but it took an own goal from Millwall defender Japhet Tanganga for Palace to establish a 33rd-minute advantage. Tanganga appeared to lose his bearing when he headed Will Hughes’ shot into his own net.
Daniel Munoz doubled the lead in the 40th minute when Palace again benefitted from erratic Millwall defending. Billy Mitchell’s attempted clearance cannoned off one of his own teammates before landing for Munoz who finished from close range.
Palace appeared to be progressing comfortably before Wes Harding brought Millwall back into the game in the final seconds of the 13 minutes of first-half added time, with the full-back’s deflected shot beating Matt Turner after good work by Femi Azeez.
Alex Neil’s side drew confidence from that response but Nketiah sealed Palace’s victory with an 82nd-minute header following Eberechi Eze’s free-kick.
03:00 PM GMT
Can Palace win the FA Cup?
Glasner is not drawn either way:
“It’s winning the quarter-final. Lets see, the draw is tomorrow, lets see what team we will face. At the moment we are just waiting good news for JP. Hopefully he is back then.”
02:59 PM GMT
Glasner speaks about Mateta
“He is conscious and he is in hospital. 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. 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 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.”
02:45 PM GMT
Millwall fans chant ‘let him die’ after horror tackle on Mateta which ‘endangered his life’
Jean-Philippe Mateta, the Crystal Palace forward, was taken from the Selhurst Park pitch on a stretcher after being caught in the face by a head-high challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts who was sent off for the foul.
Mateta appeared unconscious and received treatment for more than eight minutes before being taken to a waiting ambulance.
The Palace forward was the target of chants of “let him die” from some of the 2,800 visiting supporters that could be clearly heard on television, and BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce said: “Millwall fans are not endearing themselves to anyone with their chanting about Mateta. The football club could be revisited about that.”
02:33 PM GMT
Reaction from Palace players
Marc Guehi on the red-card challenge on Mateta: “A little worrying actually. We wish him a speedy recovery. We hope he is doing well and can re-join the team as quickly as possible.”
On Nketiah’s performance: “I expect that from him. He is a team player, never moaning or complaining. We are very proud of him, he is a top player.”
Nketiah, player of the match: “Sad for JP [Mateta], hopefully he gets back soon. It was nice to get some minutes. Every player wants to play... we have a really good squad, a real togetherness. The fans are amazing here.”
02:32 PM GMT
Three teams into the quarter-finals, then
Aston Villa beat Cardiff 2-0 last night and, alongside Palace today, Preston North End beat Lancashire rivals Burnley 3-0.
02:21 PM GMT
FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 3 Millwall 1
Crystal Palace through to the FA Cup quarter finals. Not without a scare or two but they deserve to progress, no doubt. Had the advantage of 11 vs 10 for most of the match. Let’s hope Mateta is OK.
02:19 PM GMT
90+3 mins - Crystal Palace 3 Millwall 1
A late corner from Millwall which Jonathan Pearce on BBC calls “last chance saloon time”. Not sure that really works with them two goals down... but I guess it is an opportunity for a last chance at goal?
02:16 PM GMT
90+1 mins - Crystal Palace 3 Millwall 1
Just four minutes of stoppage time. Eddie Nketiah wins player of the match. Came on early for the injured Mateta and has caused trouble to Millwall for most of the game.
02:13 PM GMT
88 mins - Crystal Palace 3 Millwall 1
Esse looking lively against his former side. Puts through Nketiah with a handy ball before having a lash at the subsequent rebound. It’s well hit with his left peg but is a comfortable enough save for the Millwall keeper.
02:09 PM GMT
83 mins - Crystal Palace 3 Millwall 1
Lerma has a shot from 25 yards out or so. Hit very well, slightly sliced just over the crossbar, though not by a great deal.
02:08 PM GMT
GOAL! Nketiah with a deft header
That is probably that.
Eddie Nketiah with a lovely cushioned header, placed in to the side-netting and beyond the keeper. Really leapt well there, going back across goal and off the post into the back of the net, beyond the outstretched right arm of the diving Jensen, from about 10 yards out.
Crystal Palace 3 Millwall 1
02:04 PM GMT
78 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Fair to say that the second half has not been as eventful as the first. Palace just trying to see out this game, it seems. Doing enough at the moment. Hard-working Millwall trying to get the equaliser but without much fluency, though it has been there from time to time.
01:59 PM GMT
74 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Nketiah felled by Cooper on the touchline and he is booked for cynically stopping the Palace counter-attack.
01:52 PM GMT
65 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Substitutes on for Palace. Hughes and Sarr off for Palace. Esse and Wharton on. Millwall make changes too. De Norre, Coburn and Mitchell off with Honeyman Ivanovic and Saville coming on in their steads.
That Harding goal just before half-time certainly seems to have given Millwall a lift. Palace are still largely in control but have had a couple of shaky moments that suggests they still have work to do if they are to see out this game.
01:49 PM GMT
63 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Azeez has been excellent for Millwall and another chance comes after some good work from him on the left. It ends with Harding sending in a low cross towards the goal but Coburn just cannot get a toe on the end of it otherwise it may well have ended up in the back of the net.
01:47 PM GMT
60 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Some activity on the Palace bench. We are only 15 or so minutes into this half but the Millwall manager will probably be more pleased with what he has seen.
01:43 PM GMT
54 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
You wonder how this game would have panned out had it been 11 vs 11. The tie is far from dead. Even before their opening goal Millwall did fashion a few half-chances. It has been an even start to the second half so far.
01:37 PM GMT
52 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Chances for Millwall! A ball comes in over the top, Palace fail to deal with it but the eventual close-range Millwall shot from the lively Azeez is partially blocked and then cleared.
01:36 PM GMT
49 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Millwall, a bit of encouragement behind them after that late first-half goal, get a corner early in the second half. It comes to nothing, though.
01:30 PM GMT
KICK-OFF!
We are back under way in south east London.
01:16 PM GMT
HALF-TIME: Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
Game on?
01:15 PM GMT
GOAL! Millwall have one back
Good work from Femi Azeez on the left, even if there is a touch of fortune to him keeping the ball. He crosses into the penalty box, turner pushes it away but not from danger. In charges Harding to shoot and his shot is deflected past Turner to halve the deficit. Keeper would have had it otherwise. It came off Chillwell, who has had a good game otherwise.
Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 1
01:10 PM GMT
45+8 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 0
A shot for a penalty from Palace, they think it’s handball on Coburn in his own box. Are they checking? Hmmm. Can’t see they will give this one. It is not given and we play on.
01:07 PM GMT
45+6 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 0
Chilwell fouled by Bangura-Williams, who is booked.
01:02 PM GMT
45 mins - Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 0
13 (THIRTEEN) minutes of added time at the end of this half. Mateta was down for a long time. Guehi’s cross is almost very good but is perhaps too deep. Nobody running onto it at the far post.
12:57 PM GMT
GOAL! Palace double their lead!
Palace have the ball in the back of the net, again, this time via Munoz. He is flagged as offside immediately but the question is whether the ball came to him via a Palace shirt or a Millwall one... Michael Oliver asks the question.
They check and replays show it came off Tanganga! So the goal stands! It’s a simple finish, but still had to get the job done. Poor Tanganga.
Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 0
12:55 PM GMT
37 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Millwall 0
Chilwell volleys brilliantly onto the crossbar from a ball that comes over his shoulder. He was just in the penalty area but more crucially he was offside by a yard or so.
12:51 PM GMT
34 mins - Crystal Palace 1 Millwall 0
Millwall’s Femi Azeez has a snap shot at the other end from a fairly tight angle, six yards out. He throws his right foot at it but it goes over. Dangerous, though.
12:50 PM GMT
GOAAAL! Palace are ahead
Palace are ahead and deservedly so. It’s a shot (or cross?) from Hughes that ricochets off Tanganga’s head, past Jensen and into the back of the net. It was going wide.
“The centre-back seemed to lose his bearings as he directed Will Hughes’s shot into his own net,” writes Ian Winrow at the ground.
Crystal Palace 1 Millwall 0
12:46 PM GMT
30 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
Chilwell picks up the ball in space on the left-hand side of the box. The ball was not meant for him but Nketiah leaves it for him. He waits before firing at goal with his left foot but Jensen saves at his near post. Palace corner.
12:42 PM GMT
26 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
Three good chances for Palace in quick succession, but Jensen makes a good save first up from Eze before the loose ball is eventually cleared from danger. They are checking to see if the shot came off Tanganga’s hand obviously enough for it to be a penalty. Surely not.
12:38 PM GMT
22 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
Nketiah has another shot, put through by Eze, but his deflected shot is an easy save for Jensen.
12:37 PM GMT
19 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
A reshuffling for Millwall, obviously, after Roberts was sent off. Luke Cundle comes off to be replaced by stand-in keeper Lukas Jensen.
A big chance for Millwall with a ball in from the left, nodded down towards the six-yard box but Coburn cannot get enough on it, though Turner still needed to make the (easy) save.
12:34 PM GMT
Mateta taken straight into ambulance
Mateta looks as though he is receiving oxygen as he is carried from the pitch and is being taken straight into an ambulance.
12:33 PM GMT
16 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
New man Nketiah has the ball in the back of the net with a lovely swivel-finish but he is adjudged to have handled just beforehand.
12:31 PM GMT
14 mins - Mateta finally comes off
This has been a long stoppage. Mateta is finally taken off to cheers from the Crystal Palace fans. He manages a very small thumbs up to the crowd though I am not sure they all see it. He then does another, which is seen. Imagine he will be in a lot of pain but hopefully the injury is not serious.
Anyway, Palace have a free-kick but it is wasted.
12:26 PM GMT
9 mins - Mateta still down
I don’t think he is going to be playing any further part in the game and will be taken off on a stretcher.
12:24 PM GMT
6 mins - RED CARD FOR MILLWALL
Michael Oliver is sent to the screen and does not take a long time to decide to send Roberts off and deservedly so.
12:23 PM GMT
6 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
Drama in the Millwall final third as keeper Liam Roberts charges out of his goal to try to beat Mateta to a loose ball and he crunches or clatters into the Palace forward. A shot from deep does not go in, though.
He does get the ball, I think, but then follows through right into Mateta’s head. That’s a horrific challenge anywhere on the pitch. Shouldn’t get lenient treatment just because he’s a keeper.
Should be a red. Not quite Schumacher-esque but that is a sending off all day long.
12:21 PM GMT
4 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
Millwall’s first foray into the final third ends with a cross that loops out of play for a goal kick.
12:18 PM GMT
2 mins - Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
Early observations. The BBC camera angle at Selhurst Park is worse than the Sky Sports one. Significantly. Cannot see much of the pitch.
A palace free-kick 32 yards out after Tanganga catches Sarr challenging for a high ball. It is wasted.
12:16 PM GMT
KICK-OFF!
We are under way at Selhurst Park.
12:12 PM GMT
Alex Neil speaks
“I think we’re confident. I think that’s the best way to describe it. I think we’ve been in reasonable form, I think our last win was important for us and I think we are coming into the game believing in what we’re doing. We’re not daft, we know we’re playing a different calibre of opposition today. We understand the task at hand and we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
12:11 PM GMT
Glasner speaks before the game
“[A win leaves us] just two steps away from the final at Wembley. All of the teams are playing with their strongest teams and we are doing it as well. I expect a completely different game today. Villa was very attacking, had a lot of possession.
“Today it will be a little bit more opposite and then we have to find solutions in the final third against a very compact Millwall side. They are very good in transition and scored two transition goals when they had their win at Leeds. We will need a very good performance today. “
12:08 PM GMT
A reminder of the line-ups as we approach kick-off
12:06 PM GMT
Millwall manager Alex Neil thinks the pressure is on Palace
“I don’t think it’s a free hit, but the pressure is more on Palace than it is on us,” he said. “Hence the reason when we played Dagenham, the pressure was on us rather than them.
“There will definitely be more scrutiny on Palace in terms of expectancy than there will be on Millwall. That’s an external thing. Internally, for us, we want to go and perform well. We have certain standards that we want to uphold. Hopefully we can go and produce.”
12:01 PM GMT
Adam Wharton is also on the bench today
Oliver Glasner also spoke about his return.
“I’m not decided at the moment,” said Glasner. “We have to be smart.
“He was injured for a very long time, then he had 20 minutes at Fulham, 80 minutes against Villa. It’s the third game in seven days.
“He was still a little bit fatigued, that’s completely normal after four or five months. We don’t want him just available for the Villa game and everybody’s praising him but then he’s injured again.”
11:45 AM GMT
Former Millwall player Romain Esse among Palace substitutes today
Lambeth-born Esse came through Millwall’s academy and played 61 league games for the club over three seasons, scoring six goals. He then moved to Palace earlier this year on a five-and-a-half-year contract.
“Every player wants to play in the best case the whole time,” said Palace manager Oliver Glasner of Esse’s chances of playing. “I know maybe it’s a special game for Romain but I never promise any player that he plays. It’s all about how the game is going.
“I definitely have in my mind that he will get some minutes.”
11:36 AM GMT
The last five meetings between these teams
Jan 2022, FA Cup: Millwall 1 Crystal Palace 2
April 2013, Championship: Millwall 0 Crystal Palace 0
Oct 2012, Championship: Crystal Palace 2 Millwall 2
Dec 2011, Championship: Millwall 0 Crystal Palace 1
Nov 2011, Championship: Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0
11:19 AM GMT
Team news
Crystal Palace
Starting XI: Turner, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Chillwell, Hughes, Lerma, Sarr, Eze, Mateta
Substitutes: Henderson, Mitchell, Nketiah, Franca, Clyne, Kamada, Wharton, Esse, Devenny
Millwall
Starting XI: Roberts, Cooper, Tanganga, Mitchell, Azeez, Bryan, Coburn, De Norre, Cundle, Harding, Neghli
Substitutes: Jensen, Wallace, Wintle, Emakhu, Saville, Ivanovic, Bangura-Willims, Honeyman, Sturge
11:16 AM GMT
Good morning
Welcome to our coverage for the first (well, along with Preston vs Burnley) of the FA Cup fifth round ties this weekend as Crystal Palace host fellow south east Londoners Millwall at Selhurst Park. This certainly counts as a derby in my book, though they are fairly nebulous things inside of London.
The two clubs have played each other 98 times dating back more than 100 years. Very little of that has been in the last decade, though, as Palace have generally been in the Premier League whilst Millwall have not. The last time the two sides met was in the FA Cup just over three years ago and palace triumphed 2-1 at the Den. Before then you have to go back to April 2013 for the last meeting, which was a 0-0 draw in the Championship. Overall Millwall have won 38 times, Palace 30 times with 30 draws. So fairly even.
The home side will go into this match as favourites for obvious reasons. Their form in recent weeks has been strong, too, with victories over Aston Villa, Fulham, Doncaster, Manchester United, West Ham, Leicester and Stockport. Their have registered only two defeats in all competitions in their last 12 games since a 5-1 loss to Arsenal.
The visitors, meanwhile, are experiencing a little more mixed form, though nothing disastrous by any means. In their last eight games in all competitions they have won five, drawn two and lost one. What do the bookmakers say? Palace are 1/4 on whilst Millwall are 11/1 outsiders, which seem fair.
Anyway, kick-off is in just under an hour and we will have team news very shortly indeed.
