To end Brighton’s goal drought
WHEN Christian Benteke hit the back of the net in a pre-match shooting drill, the cheers from the Palace fans were ironic.
When he repeated the trick after 19 minutes, powerfully heading Andros Townsend’s cross past a wrong-footed keeper Kasper Schmeichel, they were not.
The previously scoreless Benteke, who last weekend made matters worse when he defied orders to take a last-minute penalty that, had he scored, would have given Roy Hodgson’s Eagles three points instead of one, had done it for real. His personal drought of 1,107 minutes and 28 shots was over. The burden had been lifted, although his shoulders stayed hunched during a muted, ear-cupping celebration.
Perhaps more importantly for Hodgson and those that travelled north, Palace scored a Premier League goal away from Selhurst Park and would go on to taste victory on the road for the first time this season.
It is a wonder that those supporters knew what to do after so many blanks. They did. ‘Christian Benteke, he scores when he wants,’ went up the chant. They were celebrating again five minutes before half-time, when Wilfried Zaha doubled the lead. With time expiring, Bakary Sako made it three without response. Like London buses, Palace had waited a long time for an away goal and this time three came at once.
This comfortable victory, which also saw Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi sent off after picking up a second yellow card for a dive on his 21st birthday, was as important as it was warranted.
It lifts the Eagles out of the relegation zone but on the evidence of this confident showing, they look a million miles from the drop.
For Christian, it was forgiveness. ‘Good for him,’ said a delighted Hodgson. ‘He was very strong and did the right things after the penalty miss. He held his hands up. Everyone at the club appreciated that. We know he’s a quality player.’
The ever-modest man himself agreed. ‘I’ve been really patient and I’ve been through a hard time,’ Brighton and winning”. I don’t think we’re quite there.
‘We don’t swagger into places. We haven’t earned that yet. There are no delusions of grandeur for what we’re achieving.’
As the full-time whistle went, both sets of supporters left knowing they would have to stay up late to watch this one on Match of the Day.
It was all Brighton in the first half. By the break, they were wondering how it was not 3-0.
The woodwork saved the visitors in the 22nd minute when Anthony Knockaert Number of minutes since Christian Benteke last scored for Palace, in a 4-0 win against Hull in May the Belgian said. ‘But I’m a big believer, worked hard and I’ve got what I deserved today. I will not give up, I will keep going.’
Before kick-off, optimism was in the air at the King Power and not just because of an upturn in fortunes for two clubs performing well under new managers.
Outside the ground, vendors attempted to shift Hodgson and Claude Puel half-and-half scarves. There cannot be many Christmas wishlists on which those appear.
Inside, Benteke served early notice of what was to come when his first action was to pole-axe Schmeichel. His second was to give the Eagles the lead — although the struck a powerful shot against the post with Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope beaten.
Less than two minutes later, a header from Lewis Dunk looked set for the top corner. All 5ft 11in of Phil Bardsley stretched to clear off the line. Again, Pope was beaten but again, Burnley survived.
The visiting goalkeeper’s palms were stung by a vicious Murray shot before the penalty in the 35th minute. Murray was brought down by James Tarkowski in a tangle of legs and referee Chris Kavanagh took his Foxes keeper may well have done better, as indeed could Danny Simpson, who appeared to have been ordered to pick the striker up.
A lightning break before the break, triggered when Riyad Mahrez carelessly gave the ball away, ended when Benteke turned provider to play in Zaha.
The ex-Manchester United winger took a clever stepover to his right, taking floundering full-back Ben Chilwell out of the equation, before rifling a low shot across Schmeichel and into the bottom corner.
Another goal and another delighted double fist pump back towards his bench from Hodgson. Following the break, referee time before pointing to the spot. Burnley felt justice was done when Murray, taking the penalty himself, blazed the ball into Row Q.
Burnley had their chance to win it in the 73rd minute when Wood was through. He tried to chip Mathew Ryan but a superb save confirmed the 0-0 scoreline. GOAL AND SAVE! Martin Atkinson took centre stage. First, he disallowed a Vicente Iborra header for a clear shove, before dismissing Ndidi. The Nigerian was already on a yellow card for a foul on Ruben LoftusCheek, when a poor dive in the area brought another.
With Palace counter-attacking at will, substitute Sako wrapped it up with a fine left-footed finish into the top corner.
For Leicester manager Puel, defeat after four straight wins. ‘I think it was a poor performance by us,’ he said. ‘It was a bad day.’
A bad day for one manager but a great day for another. ‘That’s three clean sheets in a row now away from home, which is good,’ said Hodgson.
‘And even more importantly, we’ve killed that hoodoo that we seemed to be suffering from that we don’t score goals away. That was surprising because in each of those away games the chances were there and we were very close to scoring — today we did.’