Sunday’s briefing: Mateta suffers ear injury and Man City survive FA Cup scare | OneFootball

Jean-Philippe Mateta suffered a serious ear injury after he was on the end of a horror challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts in the all-south London FA Cup tie.

Manchester City survived a scare against giantkillers Plymouth to win 3-1, while Bournemouth beat Wolves on penalties.

Celtic are three wins from the title in Scotland after thumping St Mirren while Rangers were beaten at home again.

Mateta horror

Mateta was taken to hospital after what Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish branded “the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I’ve ever seen”.

Eagles striker Mateta was caught on the side of the head by the studs of Roberts as he came out to clear the ball.

Mateta needed lengthy treatment on the pitch and was taken on a stretcher to an ambulance.

The Frenchman later posted on social media that he was “doing well”. He was discharged from hospital on Saturday evening after having 25 stitches to repair a “severe laceration to his left ear”.

Speaking to the BBC at half-time, Parish said: “That is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen, and I think he needs to have a long, hard look at himself because he’s endangering a fellow professional and maybe his life.”

After Palace’s 3-1 win, Parish told Sky Sports: “I think his ear is almost in half.”

Millwall’s fans did not cover themselves in glory, chanting “let him die” as Mateta lay on the pitch, while the Football Association will be investigating homophobic chants directed at Palace defender Ben Chilwell.

City survive scare

Teenager Nico O’Reilly struck twice as Manchester City came from behind to beat plucky Plymouth 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth round.

The Premier League champions were stunned as Maksym Talovierov headed the Championship strugglers into a shock 38th-minute lead at the Etihad Stadium.

Yet any hopes the Pilgrims may have had of extending their unlikely cup run after surprise wins over Brentford and Liverpool were snuffed out by O’Reilly.

The 19-year-old, operating as a makeshift left-back, headed an equaliser before the break and then repeated the feat 14 minutes from time.

Kevin De Bruyne cemented City’s place in the quarter-finals with their third goal in the last minute.

Cherries spot on

Elsewhere in the cup, Bournemouth progressed to the quarter-finals for only the third time in their history after a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Wolves.

The fifth-round tie at Vitality Stadium was full of drama with Evanilson’s 30th-minute opener followed by VAR controversy as Milos Kerkez had a second ruled out for offside after an eight-minute check.

Matheus Cunha levelled for Wolves with a second-half stunner to force extra-time, but later lost his head in a moment of madness as referee Sam Barrott sent him off for violent conduct.

Further punishment could come Cunha’s way after he repeatedly clashed with Kerkez before penalties followed and after Matt Doherty missed when he had the chance to send Wolves through, Boubacar Traore hit the crossbar and Luis Sinisterra won it for Bournemouth.

Preston joined then in the last eight for the first time since 1966 with a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Hoops march on

Celtic roared 16 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after beating St Mirren 5-2 while Rangers slipped up again.

St Mirren equalised twice, cancelling out goals from Jeffrey Schlupp and Arne Engels through Declan John and Killian Phillips.

However, Yang Hyun-Jun scored twice with Daizen Maeda also on target to leave Celtic just three wins from wrapping up the title.

Meanwhile, Barry Ferguson’s Rangers homecoming turned sour as Motherwell battled to a 2-1 win at Ibrox.

The interim boss saw his side fall two goals down for the second time in four days through Luke Armstrong and Tom Sparrow.

There was to be no repeat of Wednesday’s comeback win at Kilmarnock despite Cyriel Dessers’ goal early in the second half, and they were booed off following a third successive home defeat.

What’s on today?

Fulham head to Old Trafford to take on FA Cup holders Manchester United in the fifth round, after Newcastle host Brighton.

In the Scottish Premiership there is an Edinburgh derby between Hibernian and Hearts, while Aberdeen entertain Dundee United.

There are six WSL fixtures, including leaders Chelsea’s trip to Brighton and Manchester United’s home game against Leicester.