FA Cup: Crystal Palace First to Reach the Semi-Finals
Crystal Palace secured a spot in the semi-finals of the English FA Cup after an impressive 3–0 away victory over Fulham on Saturday in the quarter-finals.
Palace settled the match in the first half, finishing with a two-goal lead. Eberechi Eze opened the scoring in the 34th minute, and four minutes later, Senegalese forward Ismaïla Sarr added the second goal.
In the second half, Odsonne Édouard sealed Crystal Palace’s victory by scoring the third goal in the 75th minute.
Jean-Philippe Mateta returned to Crystal Palace’s lineup for the first time since suffering a severe head injury that required 28 stitches to his badly torn ear. He played the match against Fulham while wearing protective ear gear.
The French striker had been hospitalized after a violent clash with Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts during an earlier FA Cup match this month. Roberts received a red card for kicking Mateta in the head outside the penalty area while both players were racing for the ball early in the fifth-round match, which ended with Crystal Palace winning 3–1.
Mateta had been sidelined since that incident but made his return to the squad against Fulham.
Roberts was initially handed a three-match suspension, but the English Football Association extended it to six matches. The goalkeeper later revealed that he had received abusive messages and threats.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Mateta said: “Liam called me and sent me a text message while I was in the hospital. I told him: ‘It’s okay, it’s football.'”
He added: “He apologized and was worried. I don’t think he woke up thinking, ‘I want to take Mateta’s head off.’ There’s a lot of pressure, and he wanted to do what’s best for his team. Excessive enthusiasm can lead to reckless actions — it was just a mistake. We learn from it.”
