Benteke threw it away, now he has to make amends

ChRISTIAN BeNTeKe had little to gain and so much to lose by taking that decisive penalty against Bournemouth.

I respect him for wanting to shoulder the responsibility of scoring the winning goal for his team. But had he scored, it is not as if Benteke would have become an overnight fan favourite. he is without a goal in 12 games and his work-rate has been questioned.

At the clubs I played for, the penalty taker was decided before kick-off and that was that. I could understand Benteke taking over had Luka Milivojevic missed from the spot earlier in the game, or if he had been taken off. But the midfielder has a perfect penalty record for Palace and emphatically put away his spot-kick.

Contrast this with Benteke whose record is dismal — converting just two of his five penalties for Palace. had he scored, the incident would have been similar to when Paolo Di Canio wrestled the ball from Frank Lampard to take a penalty for West ham against Bradford in 2000. Di Canio converted, inspiring a comeback from 4-2 down to win 5-4. When you put yourself in that position you have to score. Already under pressure to perform, Benteke now faces an uphill struggle to get the fans back on side.

There is only one way he can recover from this. Benteke needs to go into training this morning and work his socks off. he may even have to sit his team-mates down, admit he made an honest mistake and apologise.

he can quickly make amends by putting in his best performance in a Palace shirt, should Roy hodgson start him at home to Watford on Wednesday. This could be the making or breaking of his Crystal Palace career. SeLhURST PARK has seen two of the best volleys scored in the Premier League. Four years ago Pajtim Kasami scored an outrageous looping strike there for Fulham, which I ranked as one of my top 20 Premier League goals. Now Jermain Defoe has lit up the ground with an amazing piece of brilliance. It’s great to see him back among the goals at Bournemouth — and what a timely reminder for Gareth Southgate ahead of the World Cup.