Furious Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish accused Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts of endangering Jean-Philippe Mateta’s life during Saturday’s FA Cup tie.
Roberts was sent off just eight minutes into Saturday’s London derby after a wildly reckless challenge on Jean-Philippe Mateta that led to the forward being carried off on a stretcher.
Roberts rushed outside the 18-yard box and leaped to clear a long ball but his high left-footed follow-through struck Mateta in the side of the face.
Mateta remained on the ground for several minutes and needed lengthy medical treatment before he was fitted with a neck brace and carried off the field toward an ambulance.
Asked for an update on the Frenchman’s condition during the half-time break by BBC presenter Kelly Somers a visibly livid Paris said: ‘So far we know 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 to 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 is and he’s 30-years old.
‘That’s the most wreckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen. He needs to have a long hard look at himself that lad because he’s endangering a fellow professional, maybe even his life.
‘It’s 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.
‘They’re all professionals out there and they’ve got to treat each other like professionals. They’ve got a duty of care and that goalkeeper hasn’t had one.
‘It’s difficult for me to think about anything else with JP in hospital. It’s a dreadful challenge and why the referee needs to go to the screen I’ve got no idea.
‘He’s a human being let’s forget about a football player that’s not just a normal challenge. If you’re kicking someone in the head with full force God knows what damage has been done to him.’
Referee Michael Oliver initially did not even show Roberts a yellow card despite being only a few yards away from the incident but then brandished a straight red after being called over by VAR to review the incident on a pitchside monitor.
Mateta is Palace’s leading scorer with 12 Premier League goals this season.