Football
Crystal Palace ease past 10-man Millwall after Mateta horror injury to book spot in FA Cup quarter final
Olly Taliku has worked with highly respected sports and gambling websites where he has produced hundreds of articles, as well as being published with Burton Albion and Chesterfield FC. At Burton Olly worked closely alongside the women's team, producing mainly matchday content including reports and interviews, while at Chesterfield he worked in a similar role but with the academy side, as well as some first team content. He also has experience as an accredited Premier League and EFL writer for Prost International where he worked during the 2021/22 season to produce matchday content as an on location reporter. Olly specialises in football as well as long form SEO content plus news, tips and betting but also produces content on basketball, baseball and American football.
Get to know Oliver Taliku betterPublished01 Mar 2025
Watch the full FA Cup highlights from Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace were able to seal a spot in the sixth round at the expense of 10-man Millwall.
Crystal Palace ease past 10-man Millwall
Michael Oliver had a game-changing decision to make just eight minutes into the FA Cup fifth round clash, with Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts clattering Jean-Philippe Mateta on the edge of his box in a horrific tackle.
Roberts was clumsy with the challenge and his high boot clearly caught the Crystal Palace forward on top of his head leaving Mateta in agony on the floor.
After a lengthy stoppage, Mateta was eventually stretchered off the field and straight into an ambulance much to the relief of Palace fans, with Roberts shown a straight red which couldn’t be argued with.
Eddie Nketiah replaced Mateta and the Palace sub thought he had the game’s first goal almost immediately, but his finish was correctly ruled out for a handball in the buildup.
Ben Chilwell nearly netted his first goal for Palace with a stunning volley, but the Chelsea loanee was denied by the crossbar much to his frustration.
The hosts did finally get a deserved second goal just before half time as Millwall failed to clear the ball leaving Daniel Munoz an easy finish from close range.
Millwall were able to grab a goal back just before the break to keep them in the tie, with Wes Harding netting deep into stoppage time.
The second half was nowhere near as action packed as the first period, with Crystal Palace able to dominate their Championship opponents throughout without any attacking threat from the Lions.
Palace were able to finally secure a spot in the sixth round with a late finish from Nketiah putting the game to bed. The 25-year-old was able to rise highest from 10 yards out to guide a cross back in the box into the far corner, with his looping header enough to seal a win for Palace over 10-man Millwall.