Roberto Firmino equalised for Liverpool with 18 minutes left on the clock when he stroked the ball to an open net after a poor clearance by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey who had received a back pass from Joe Ledley.
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But Benteke, an 80th-minute replacement for Divock Origi, said: “I think he touched me, otherwise I don’t go down”.
Benteke – who won the penalty – faced added pressure given that he had yet to score in 2016, but he produced a calm finish to given Liverpool the three points.
After finishing last season strongly under Alan Pardew, Crystal Palace started well this time around, and flirted with the European places during the opening months of their campaign, often placed around sixth place.
Liverpool’s blushes were spared by a 94th minutes Christian Bentekeas as Jurgen Klopp’s European dreams were kept alive with a 1-2 win in London.
Liverpool’s best chance of winning the game appeared to have passed when Alberto Moreno struck the post with a fierce, long-range shot but there was still time for the late drama involving Benteke, who was thrown on by Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp ahead of fellow striker Daniel Sturridge. I think you should accept that.
Things went from bad to worse for the Reds as midfielder James Milner picked up two yellow cards in a matter of minutes to be dismissed after the hour mark.
“I’m frustrated with the way we didn’t push on when they went down to 10 men”.
The hosts were clearly encouraged as Liverpool were reduced to 10 men, and pushed forward in their droves, looking for the knockout punch.
Regarding the penalty Pardew said, ‘he certainly made a big meal of it. If it had been us, we would not have got it. Damien pulls out, the follow through of his knee gets it. That’s tough’.
Referee Andre Marriner awarded the spot kick after consulting his linesman and Belgium’s Benteke opted for a stuttering run-up before burying the penalty with virtually the last kick of the match.
” This is part of football”, he said. “You have to be ready when the manager needs you and I tried to do my best today”. Dejan Lovren had to be the right-back and centre-half. We are nearly asking ourselves what we have to do to win a game.
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“I feel like we’ve been robbed”. If we can reproduce the way we played (against Liverpool), I am confident we can get a good result there.
