Sports

Benteke steals win for Crystal Palce with late strike against Brighton

Published

February 22, 2021

Christian Benteke scored a late-minute goal to give Crystal Palace a 2-1 win against Brighton and Hove Albion to go ten points clear of the drop zone.

The Belgian striker has been struggling to regain the former that saw Liverpool splash £32.5m on him in 2015 but he stole the headlines with a cameo appearance at Brighton.

Graham Potter’s side put up a threatening performance against Roy Hodgson’s men, making it difficult for the visitors to breathe but against all odds, Palace took the lead.

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored his first goal for the Eagles with their first shot on target against the run of play. Jordan Ayew’s pass found the Mateta who found the back of the net with a skilful backheel goal in what is just his second game for Palace.

The goal didn’t spare Palace a bit as the Seagulls intensified their attack and the introduction of Danny Wellbeck in the second half brought more threat to the visitors with much of the game played in the Palace half.

Palace would later give in to the pressure in the ten minutes into the second half when Joël Veltman drew Brighton level with a left-footed strike.

Potter’s men should have gone on to bury the game afterwards but a defiant defending from Hodgson’s team kept the home side out on multiple occasions.

As the game drew towards the end of the regular time, Hodgson substituted Mateta for Benteke and the genius move from the veteran paid off.

Andros Townsend made his way to the left flank and sent in a pin-point cross to Benteke who caught the ball with a late-gast volley which found the bottom-left corner past Sanchez to give Palace the 2-1 victory.

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