Picture Credit: X
Piers Morgan recently tweeted about an incident that took place in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace was playing EFL Championship team Millwall at the Selhurst Park on March 1. Crystal Palace were coming off a solid 4-1 win against Aston Villa in the Premier League while Millwall are having a mediocre season and are currently placed 12th in the EFL Championship table. Just within eight minutes of the match, Millwall goalkeeper came out to clear a long ball coming his way and collided into Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philipe Mateta.
The referee stopped the play immediately and went over to the VAR screen to check the replay while the injured player was being treated. On checking the footage of this collision, it could be seen that the Millwall goalkeeper had his boot hit Mateta’s head, resulting in a horrendous foul.
Liam Roberts was instantly shown a red-card by referee Oliver Michael. Mateta had to be taken off the field on a stretcher for further medical attention. Millwall took off defender Luke Cundle to bring in first-choice keeper Lukas Jensen. Piers Morgan took to his X account to write about this incident, labelling it as the “worst tackle he’d ever seen.” He also wrote, “He was sent off but if he did that to someone in the street he’d be jailed.”
Relief around the Palace camp as Mateta gets discharged from the hospital
Crystal Palace ended up winning the match with a comfortable 3-1 scoreline, courtesy of the extra man advantage that they had. This win meant that they secured a spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. While the result of the match did go in their favour, there were concerns about the health and well-being of Jean-Philipe Mateta.
Crystal Palace Chairman Steve Parish was furious about the incident and said, “It is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen.” Mateta, who was discharged from the hospital after receiving stitches to his left ear, put out a message on Instagram saying that he was alright and hopes to come back soon and stronger.
