Palace chairman praises Liverpool supporters.
Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke celebrates scoring their second goal with team mates
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has praised Liverpool fans for the way they applauded Christian Benteke after he inflicted a defeat on the Reds.
Benteke scored two goals at Anfield as Palace turned around an early deficit, to give their survival battle a big boost. The Eagles have now beaten Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea over the past month.
The 2-1 win was potentially damaging for Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino in action with Crystal Palace’s Jeffrey Schlupp, Jason Puncheon and Christian Benteke
Benteke was sold by Liverpool in the summer after just one season at Anfield.
In the circumstances you could almost forgive the Reds’ supporters for feeling put out, but their class shone through and did not go unnoticed. Commenting after the game, Parish commended their approach.
Now Liverpool supporters could well have acted a different way if Benteke had celebrated wildly, but the Belgian showed commendable restraint despite his clear excitement.
The striker’s ability to score goals has rarely been in question, his spell at Liverpool just did not work out with manager Jurgen Klopp preferring alternatives.
Liverpool might just wish they had loaned Benteke to Palace this season instead, and in doing so included a clause preventing him from playing against them.
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