Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta was taken off on a stretcher after suffering a sickening blow to the head following an awful challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts in the FA Cup.
The incident occurred after just six minutes of the fifth-round tie when Mateta raced after a long ball forward and was clattered full-on by Roberts who had rushed out of his goal to clear.
Millwall’s stand-in keeper made slight contact with the ball but followed through dangerously and forcefully, with his studs colliding horribly with Mateta’s head.
Referee Michael Oliver inexplicably failed to produce a red card initially, but he soon changed his mind after being sent to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Mateta was given oxygen and received treatment on the pitch for around 10 minutes before being carefully placed on a stretcher and carried off.
The away fans chanted “Let him die,” as he was attended to.
The 27-year-old appeared to give a thumbs up in the direction of the Palace dugout as he was carried off.
There were 13 minutes added on at the end of the first half with Millwall winger Camiel Neghli also forced off through injury.
“So far what we know is he’s got a bad gash behind his ear and a head injury. Obviously he’s at the hospital and we hope for the best,” Palace chairman Steve Parish told BBC Sport at half-time.
Parish added: “There’s a lot of emotion in football but we need to talk about that challenge. In all my time watching football I’ve never seen a challenge like it.
“I looked to see how old the keeper is, he’s 30 years old. That is the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen. He needs to have a long, hard look at himself that lad because he’s endangered a fellow professional maybe even with his life with a challenge like that.
“It’s very difficult for me to talk about the rest of the game because we’re worried about JP and it’s just a terrible, terrible challenge.
“It’s a dreadful challenge and why the referee needs to go to the screen I’ve got no idea.”
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