Jean-Philippe Mateta made his Crystal Palace return Saturday for the first time since sustaining a serious head injury that required 25 stitches on a severely lacerated ear.
The forward was hospitalized after being kicked in the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts in an FA Cup match earlier this month.
He has been out of action since then but was back in Palace's starting lineup for the 3-0 win against Fulham in the Cup quarterfinal.
Wearing a protective covering on his ear, Mateta played for 70 minutes before being replaced by Eddie Nketiah.
Mateta was injured when Roberts rushed outside the 18-yard box to clear a long ball and struck the France striker in the side of the face with a high boot. The goalkeeper was sent off, while Mateta left the field on a stretcher and was taken to a hospital.
Palace chairman Steve Parish said it was “the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen.”
Roberts' initial three-game ban was extended to six games after the English Football Association called for extra punishment. The goalkeeper later revealed he'd received abusive messages and threats.
“Liam contacted me and texted me while I was in hospital and I told him: ‘It is OK, it is football,’” Mateta said in an interview with Sky Sports. "He apologized. He was worried.
“I don’t think he woke up and thought ‘I want to cut the head of JP.’ There is a lot of pressure. He wanted to do good, too much emotion makes you do crazy things. It was just a mistake. You learn from it."
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta wearing a protective guard on his ear grimaces during the English FA Cup quarter final soccer match between Fulham and Crystal Palace, at Craven Cottage, in London, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta wearing a protective guard warms up before the English FA Cup quarter final soccer match between Fulham and Crystal Palace, at Craven Cottage, in London, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (John Walton/PA via AP)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.
Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.
Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.
“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”
Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.
Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.
“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”
A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
