Mateta gets 25 stitches after 'reckless' kick to head by Millwall 'keeper

LONDON (AP) — Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta needed 25 stitches on a cut to his ear after being kicked by Millwall’s goalkeeper during an FA Cup game Saturday in what Palace’s club chairman described as “the most reckless challenge” he’d ever seen.

Palace said Mateta was released from a hospital Saturday evening after an incident that saw the forward carried off the field on a stretcher with a neck brace. Millwall keeper Liam Roberts was sent off just eight minutes into game after he rushed outside the 18-yard box, leaped to clear a long ball and struck Mateta in the side of the face with a high left-footed follow-through.

Mateta remained on the ground and needed lengthy medical treatment before he was carried off the field toward an ambulance.

“We are very pleased to confirm that JP Mateta has this evening been discharged from St. George’s Hospital where he received specialist treatment and 25 stitches to a severe laceration to his left ear,” Palace said in a statement. “All scans were clear and JP is feeling well. He will now rest and recuperate over the following days where his progress will be monitored by our club doctor.”

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.

“In all the time I’ve watched football I’ve never seen a challenge like it,” Palace chairman Steve Parish told the BBC during the halftime break. “That is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen.”

Mateta is Palace’s leading scorer with 12 Premier League goals this season.

He posted a message on Instagram saying he was “doing well.”

“I hope to be back very soon,” he wrote. “And stronger than ever.”

Palace won 3-1 to reach the FA Cup quarterfinals.