C Palace 3 – 1 Millwall

Crystal Palace edged into the FA Cup quarter-finals after a 3-1 win against local rivals Millwall, but the victory was tainted after Jean-Philippe Mateta was stretchered off.

The incident came inside six minutes. Mateta challenged for a high ball just outside the area when Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts came out of his box, catching the Palace striker’s head with his high boot.

After a check of the pitchside monitor, referee Michael Oliver sent Roberts off, with Mateta receiving almost 10 minutes of medical attention on the field before being taken off. He was taken straight to hospital.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish described it as ‘the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I’ve ever seen’ when talking to the BBC at half-time.

The Eagles began to rack up the chances with the additional player, and made the breakthrough in the 33rd minute – although not from one of their own. Millwall defender Japhet Tanganga nodded home from Will Hughes’ cross, beating substitute goalkeeper Lukas Jensen.

Seven minutes later, Crystal Palace doubled their lead and Tanganga had another hand. Daniel Munoz turned home from inside the six yard box, but the goal was initially ruled out for offside.

This was overturned by Oliver, and VAR confirmed the goal would stand after the ball came off Tanganga before Munoz turned home – meaning he was not offside.

But with the final kick of the first half, Millwall gave themselves a lifeline. Matt Turner initially pushed away a cross, but it landed to the incoming Wes Harding, who fired home.

And the Lions began the second half well, and will feel that they should have equalised. But once Crystal Palace settled, it was clear they would see the game out, and added the safety of a third goal in the 81st minute.

It was a deserved goal for Eddie Nketiah, who replaced Mateta. Eberechi Eze’s free kick was nodded on by Chris Richards, before the former Arsenal striker looped a header home to secure Crystal Palace’s spot in Sunday’s draw.

Parish: I’ve never seen a challenge like it

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish to BBC Sport at half-time on Jean-Philippe Mateta’s injury:

“He’s got a bad gash behind his ear and a head injury. He’s at the hospital and we hope for the best.

“There’s a lot of emotion in football but we need to talk about that challenge. I’ve never seen a challenge like it… that’s the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I’ve ever seen.

“He needs to have a long, hard look at himself because he’s endangering a fellow professional with a challenge like that.

“And why the referee needs to go to the screen, I have no idea… If you’re kicking him in the head at full force, who knows what kind of damage could be done.”

Glasner: It’s a terrible foul

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner to BBC Sport on Jean-Philippe Mateta:

“He’s conscious and he’s in hospital. His ear looks terrible. It’s a very serious injury and we hope the best for him.

“We can’t be really happy. Of course it’s a great win and into the quarter-finals, but when you lose a player with a foul like this, you have two different feelings in your stomach.

“I didn’t want to see it, but I have to talk about it. It’s terrible [the challenge]. I’m sure that the goalkeeper didn’t want to injure JP in this situation because no player wants this.

“But if you go the ball like this with the intensity in the head, you just can’t do it because it’s so dangerous. I don’t want to blame him, but it’s a terrible foul.”

On the response from his players and the game: “The players did well until the 55th minute in the first half. We controlled the game and we were on track. Then we unnecessarily gift the ball before half time and then it’s 2-1 and then they picked up their belief.

“The second half wasn’t really the best game, but Eddie decided it with an amazing header. Going to the FA Cup quarter-finals is a great achievement and now fingers crossed, we’re hoping the best for JP.”

Neil disagrees with Parish: Not the worst challenge I’ve ever seen

Millwall boss Alex Neil to BBC Sport when asked about Steve Parish’s half-time comments on Liam Roberts’ challenge:

“I don’t think there’s any intent. Why would there have been? It’s the start of the game, the ball gets put in behind and he tries to get there.

“I certainly wouldn’t label it as the worst challenge I’ve seen. We don’t want the lad to be injured so naturally, we wish Mateta well and hope he’s back on the pitch soon.

“For me, it’s mistimed, he’s been sent off, he’s disappointed. We wish Mateta well and it’s nothing more than that for me.

“At the time when it happened, I didn’t know if he’d caught the lad or caught the ball because the ball seemed to go off in a strange angle.

“Unfortunately, [the screens] at the side of the dugout weren’t working so we couldn’t really watch the incident back.

“I haven’t seen it back since but he’s mistimed it and got sent off, which at that stage of the game, makes the game doubly difficult for us. It was disappointing. He’s made a call and hasn’t quite got it right.”

On the goals conceded: “The nature of the goals disappoints me the most. One is an own goal, another is when we kick the ball off our own player and it lands to the lad in the box and he scores. Then we lose two headers in a row. When you’re down to 10 men, you want to make them work for their goals.

“We gave ourselves a little bit of a lifeline by getting the goal before half-time. The plan then was to stay in the game as long as we can and hopefully get another goal. I was about to go two up top and they score just as we were about to make a sub, which summed the day up for us really.”

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