Making sense of Liam Roberts’ horror challenge on Jean-Philippe Mateta

The gasps around the press box at Selhurst Park were audible.

At first, there had been wincing, when Jean-Philippe Mateta was recklessly clattered into by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts with a two-footed airborne karate kick.

Now that slow-motion replays were being shown from various angles, shock and disgust were spreading around the stadium via anyone who had access to a TV screen.

There was no question of intent — Roberts charged out of his area to win the ball, and he did so — but when one of the goalkeeper’s boots hit Mateta’s head while the other clanged into his torso, leaving the Frenchman in a heap on the ground, you couldn’t help but slacken your jaw and mutter a couple of swear words.

And the referee didn’t even give a foul.

Violence had been feared at Selhurt Park on Saturday — but off the pitch rather than on it.

There was a highly charged atmosphere to say the least for this rare south London derby, with it being only the second time the teams have met since 2013. On the 10-minute walk between Norwood Junction station and Selhurst Park, a couple of hundred police officers lined the route attempting to keep the peace.

“No one likes us, we don’t care,” a large group of Millwall fans chanted as they left the train station. “F*** off, Millwall, south London is ours,” came the Palace retort further up the road.

It wasn’t even midday yet but there was real tension on the streets, although police did a good job of keeping home and away fans separate.

“Why is this normal?” a young lad asked his parents.

The atmosphere at kick-off remained intense. The 4,000 travelling Millwall fans were hemmed in by anti-crawl nets and a sizeable presence of police and stewards, with a Palace banner placed next to them which reads ‘South London and Proud’.

And then came the Roberts/Mateta incident, just five minutes into the match.

The resulting nine-minute stoppage quelled the intensity of the occasion — and was pretty much the only thing the two managers were asked about after a one-sided FA Cup match, the result of which (3-1 to Crystal Palace, by the way) was never really in doubt.

So how bad was it? And was the correct punishment meted out?

Well, anger and fury was directed at Roberts from several angles: social media, Palace co-owner Steve Parish, and Piers Morgan, to name a few.

Parish was interviewed on BBC’s half-time coverage and, very much in the heat of the moment, was heavily critical of Roberts.

“There’s a lot of emotion in football but we need to talk about that challenge, I’ve never seen a challenge like it in football,” Parish fumed. “The goalkeeper is 30 years old, and that is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I have 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, with a challenge like that.”

After the match, head coach Oliver Glasner gave a very different reaction: sombre, despondent and clearly very concerned about his player, but also measured.

“I don’t feel happiness today,” he said when asked about the victory. “Maybe call it naive but I always believe in the good parts of everyone. I still believe he didn’t want to injure JP (Mateta). I will always believe this.”

Glasner, whose playing career ended after a clash of heads during an Austrian league match, believed it was fear that led Roberts to lead with his feet rather than try and head the bouncing ball clear.

“He knew he could not go with his hands because it was outside (the box) because then it is a red card,” Glasner explained. “I thought he was scared to go with the head because then they could crash and then it was the wrong decision to go with his foot at this height. I think he knows it. He could have withdrawn his leg a little bit after touching the ball but, again, I’m pretty sure his intention was not to injure JP.

“Just imagine if he hits the face straight with all this power… it would have been the end of JP’s career.

“I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to injure JP, but I also think you have to decide, when you make such an impact, you just can’t do it in this way. The risk of a very serious injury is too high, it was the wrong decision.”

The Palace boss also refused to blame Saturday’s referee Michael Oliver for not showing a red card until he had viewed a replay on the pitch-side television, despite only being a few yards behind the incident and with a clear view.

(Jacques Feeney/Getty Images)

“He (Roberts) touched the ball first, then you always think when somebody touches the ball maybe yellow (card),” Glasner said.

Glasner’s comment about Roberts choosing not to head the ball brought to mind a horrible clash from 2017 when Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, out of his area, headed it clear and his head was caught by the boot of Liverpool forward Sadio Mane in the process. Mane was sent off, while Ederson needed eight stitches.

The incident also brought back memories of Nigel de Jong’s studs jamming into Xabi Alonso’s chest in the 2010 World Cup final, or West Germany goalkeeper Harald Schumacher wiping out Frenchman Patrick Battiston (who lost several teeth and suffered damaged vertebrae) in the 1982 World Cup semi-final.

Those latter two incidents are considered to be two of the most violent of their kind, certainly on a high-profile stage, but remarkably neither resulted in a red card. De Jong was infamously only booked by English referee Howard Webb, while Schumacher’s ‘challenge’ didn’t even result in a foul.

Michael Oliver didn’t appear to give a foul, either. Play continued, with Daniel Munoz attempting to score while Roberts was out of his goal, and Oliver neither whistled to stop play, nor gave any indication that he was playing advantage.

Instead, he jogged over to the prone Mateta and, seeing he was seriously injured, whistled to stop play as Millwall were clearing the ball.

It was only when VAR intervened to state a check was ongoing for serious foul play that Oliver then began the process of sending Roberts off, going to check the TV screen before announcing to the stadium via a microphone: “After a review, the decision is red card for serious foul play.”

Roberts heard the directive and began walking to the tunnel before Oliver had flashed his red card, in what must be one of the best advocates for VAR being part of the sport, with the referee (judged by some to be one of the best in the country) appearing to not even deem the incident a foul despite having an excellent view, before then seeing a replay and upgrading it to a red.

Can Roberts’ foul be fairly compared to some of the above challenges? It was a panicked challenge in the heat of the moment, but it lacked malice and got worse on repeated viewings rather than looking horrendous in real time.

Michael Oliver consults the pitch-side screen before sending Roberts off (Crystal Pix/Getty Images)

“It was a big decision from Roberts (to come out his goal),” said former England centre-back Matthew Upson on BBC commentary immediately afterwards.

“I don’t think (Mateta) expects, anticipates or sees the goalkeeper coming to win this ball. I think he does win it, which is a big tick in the box because if he doesn’t get anything on this ball it’s a serious problem.

“He wins the ball first but look at the follow-through, he really does catch Mateta right in the side of the head. That’s a dangerous piece of play.”

Millwall head coach Alex Neil later agreed it was the correct decision to send Roberts off but disagreed with Parish’s comments about the severity of the challenge.

“I don’t think there’s any intent, of course not — why would there be any intent?” he said to the BBC after the match. “I certainly wouldn’t label it as the worst challenge I’ve seen. Obviously, we don’t want the lad to be injured, naturally we wish Mateta well and hope he’s back on the pitch soon, but my goalkeeper has mis-timed a through ball; it happens up and down the country every schedule of games.”

Sadly, Millwall’s fans let themselves down with some pathetic chants during the stoppage and then later in the match, singing “let him die” as the stretcher came onto the field and then “que sera sera, whatever will be will be, Mateta’s in A&E”.

They also directed homophobic chants towards Palace full-back Ben Chilwell, on loan from Chelsea.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “We are aware of a number of incidents within the ground including reports of abusive chanting and a fan entering the opposition’s area.

“Three people have been arrested on suspicion of offences including affray.

“We will liaise with the clubs and the FA in due course.”

Most importantly of all, Mateta was conscious and able to post a message on Instagram on Saturday, saying: “I’m doing well, I hope to be back very soon and stronger than ever. Well done guys for the great job today. I love you, JP.”

(Top photo: Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)