ROY: BENTEKE PENALTY SHAMBLES COULD HAUNT US

MARIO BALOTELLI stole a penalty once from Liverpool’s designated taker, Jordan Henderson. The reason not many people remember is because Balotelli scored. Against Bournemouth on Saturday, Christian Benteke did not score, and Crystal Palace’s fans will not forget this act of selfishness if it costs them later in the season. Roy Hodgson thought his team had the win when referee Kevin Friend pointed to the spot in stoppage time. On the pitch he had Luka Milivojevic, Palace’s regular taker who has never missed a penalty in the Premier League and had already scored one in the first half. But Hodgson’s instructions were ignored because Benteke, who is yet to score this season, wanted the headlines for himself. The Belgian certainly got them. ‘The fact is a lot of other players would like to get off the mark,’ Hodgson said. ‘You cannot use that as an excuse. If we get relegated and two points in May would have kept us up, I’ll say maybe these points cost us.’ Bournemouth took the lead through Jermain Defoe before Milivojevic’s spot-kick and

Scott Dann made it 2-1 to Palace. Defoe then unleashed a volley reminiscent of Marco van Basten’s at Euro 88 in first-half stoppage time to level it at 2-2. The way Wilfried Zaha won both of Palace’s penalties caused controversy and Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe wants the FA’s observations on the decisions of referee Kevin Friend. ‘I’ll seek that information, but ultimately there’s nothing you can do,’ Howe said. Of Zaha, he added: ‘He has the ability to twist and turn in tight areas and he’s going to