Put that in your pipe and smoke it

BENTEKE STUNS FORMER CLUB

Christian Benteke’s double for Crystal Palace against his old club Liverpool dealt perhaps a fatal blow to their hopes of Champions League football whilst boosting Manchester United’s chances yesterday.

United had already done their chances no end of good earlier yesterday as Anthony Martial responded positively to criticism by Jose Mourinho in scoring one and being involved in Wayne Rooney’s second beating Burnley 2-0 to move up to fi fth spot and a point off Manchester City – who they play on Thursday.

However, it is Liverpool who will be the most worried about missing out on the lucrative Champions League spot next season as they are just two points clear of United who have two games in hand.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pondered how Palace had been in danger of relegation when their performance belied their lowly position.

Palace now look certain to preserve Sam Allardyce’s proud record of never being in charge of a club that has gone down.

However, Klopp issued a rallying call to the fans and his players not to give up hope on the Champions League.

“Everyone thinks the Champions League has slipped through our fingers but we have one more month to stay positive,” Klopp told the BBC.

Allardyce said there was a sense of relief that there was clear breathing space now between them and the bottom three – they are seven points clear of Swansea.

“It has been hard work but we are looking up,” he told BBC.

United may be down to the bare bones in certain areas because of injury but even with leading scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic out with a serious knee injury and Marcus Rashford rested till a late appearance as a substitute they made light work of a Burnley side who are not out of trouble yet.

However, Mourinho denied fourth place was their priority as United he said are in the business of winning trophies.

“If we beat Celta Vigo (their Europa League semifinal opponents) we go to the final and yes it is important for us to play Champions League, but this club wants trophies,” said Mourinho. – AFP

Picture: Reuters TAKE THAT. Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke, left, celebrates his first of two goals scored with team-mates during their Premier League encounter against Liverpool at Anfield yesterday.