Benteke back to haunt Kop with a brace
HIS celebrations were muted. The first he allowed his team-mates to engulf him; the second he merely pointed to the heavens and let others get carried away.
The implications of his goals, however, were huge. Christian Benteke used to be viewed as a £32.5million misfit in these parts but, today, locals will see him as the man who has put Liverpool’s Champions League aspirations in jeopardy.
Suddenly, they are in a spot where their attempts to finish in the top four could slither through their fingers as Crystal Palace recorded a third straight win at Anfield. Bar a moment of magic from Philippe Coutinho, Jurgen Klopp’s side got what they deserved. Nothing.
Palace got the rewards their endeavours merited and, while Benteke was reluctant to show his true feelings at a stadium he used to call home, there was no disguising his determination to prove a point as he bullied Liverpool into submission.
‘I said to myself if I have a chance to score, I won’t celebrate,’ said Benteke, who was moved to Selhurst Park 15 months after he became the second biggest signing in Liverpool’s history. ‘But what happened is behind and I was looking forward to it. I was motivated.’
Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip, Liverpool’s centre-halves, couldn’t handle the sheer physicality of the big Belgian striker.
He unsettled them to the extent that Klopp’s back four malfunctioned at the worst possible time, leaving the manager bewildered with the goals his side shipped.
Palace, for their part, were obdurate and uncompromising as they moved further clear of relegation trouble.
‘When you’re the underdog, you set out a gameplan,’ said boss Sam Allardyce. ‘This league is so exciting because when you set out a gameplan, it can turn over the opposition when it’s not expected by most people. We did that. From start to finish, we were tactically exceptional.’
Everything went according to plan for the first 24 minutes, only for Coutinho to step up and whip a free-kick into the top corner from fully 30 yards.
It was an exquisite strike, with Sky Sports’ Graeme Souness describing it as ‘almost perfect’. It should have given Liverpool the impetus to take control of the match — but what followed was anything but perfect.
Palace responded just before half-time. Yohan Cabaye sent in a wonderful cross that demanded Benteke apply the finish. He did so emphatically.
‘One long ball and one cross,’ lamented Klopp. ‘There is nothing good to say. Benteke’s a great striker but, if you leave him alone like we did, I’m not sure he needed to show all those skills.’
Palace quickly realised the game was there to be taken — and duly won it on 74 minutes.
Liverpool’s defending was appalling, with Roberto Firmino failing to clear a corner, and Benteke squeezed in front of Lovren to head home his fifth goal in five games.
Remarkably, it was Allardyce’s first win in the league here as a manager. It means Palace are now almost certainly safe from relegation. Liverpool, on other hand, are anything but safe. If anything, they have never looked more vulnerable.