Crystal Palace progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at a sun-kissed, slightly distracted Selhust Park. A win against opponents who played with 10 men for 85 minutes was comfortable enough. Sadly, this south London derby will be remembered instead for a single outstanding act of violence.
It took place inside the stadium, and in front of the watching millions, as Liam Roberts launched an adrenal, wildly dangerous flying challenge into the head of Jean-Philippe Mateta with five minutes gone. In the process, Roberts killed his own continued participation in the game, plus a large portion of the BBC live broadcast, and could conceivably have done the same to Mateta.
“It is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen,” said the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, at half-time, going on to talk about the possibility of actually killing a fellow professional.
It was certainly up there, with shades of Harald Schumacher at the 1982 World Cup. That was, Schumacher admitted, a deliberate assault designed to stop Patrick Battiston scoring. This one was not premeditated, but it was seriously reckless. Given the force, the point of contact and the level of danger, it was as bad as these things are likely to get. Mateta was taken to hospital with a gashed head.
Millwall were allocated 3,781 tickets for this six-mile trip down the south London train tracks. The away end was duly packed out and ringed, sternly, by a gaggle of widely jeered Metropolitan police.
The opening moments saw Millwall dally vaguely down the Palace left and then Roberts ran out towards a bouncing forward pass and kicked Mateta in the head. In reality it was less a kick, more an assault, left foot launched martial-arts style into Mateta’s face.
In the moment it looked not just like a red, but two reds, maybe three. Michael Oliver took the easy route, waiting for the VAR. He was duly sent to his monitor. It was a horrendous challenge and utterly brainless given the pre-match talk from his manager about keeping their heads and being aware of VAR, which is not in use in the Championship.
“You have to keep in mind there are certain things you might not be able to do,” Japhet Tanganga had warned. Hmm. About that. How are we fixed for assault?
Mateta left the pitch on a stretcher. Eddie Nketiah came on. Lukas Jensen replaced Roberts. The game restarted with an empty feeling around the ground.
Oliver Glasner had picked a near full-strength Palace team, with a high-class attacking unit in Eze-Mateta-Sarr. Josh Coburn started up front for Millwall. Behind him was the Dutch-Algerian winger Camiel Neghli.
So much for planning. A man down, Millwall sank back into a low block. Palace had all of the ball and all of the grass, generating a series of close-range scuffles and last-line wrestling matches. They were sharp down the right where Ismaïla Sarr and Daniel Muñoz stayed wide to stretch depleted opponents.
Palace finally scored on 33 minutes. It was an own goal from Tanganga, who deflected Will Hughes’s left-wing cross powerfully into his own net. It was 2-0 on 40 minutes, the goal coming after another mob-handed attack against a defence that just seemed to be sinking backwards.
This time Billy Mitchell smashed a clearance against Tanganga, the ball bobbling back to Muñoz, who tapped it into the net. The VAR overruled an offside flag. That made it a goal and an assist for Tanganga, who will not remember this half fondly.
Millwall pulled one back with the last kick of the half 11 minutes into stoppage time, Wes Harding clipping the ball into the corner. The half-time stats read: 79% Palace possession, 249 passes to 41 and, against all odds, a 2-1 scoreline.
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The second half was slow-burn by comparison. Millwall had chances, or rather half-chances, with Coburn a lively presence. Palace made it 3-1 on 81 minutes, Nketiah nipping in to finish nicely, then doing a no-celebration pose in front of the away fans. Nketiah grew up a couple of miles from the Den. It felt, at the very least, like a neighbourly overture, and in violent contrast to the opening act at the other end.
