Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to discuss Roberto Martinez’s treatment of Christian Benteke, as Belgium crashed out of EURO 2020.
What’s the story?
Well, as tweeted by Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur, Martinez had Benteke stripped and ready to come on in the 97th minute last night.
The only problem was that Slavko Vincic had added just five minutes of stoppage time, so the game was practically over with Belgium losing 2-1.
Unsurprisingly, Vincic blew for full-time before Benteke could get onto the pitch inside the Allianz Arena.
Naturally, this annoyed Crystal Palace fans, who wanted to see their only EURO 2020 representative get some minutes under his belt.
Miserable EURO 2020 for Christian Benteke
While we’re sure he enjoyed being involved in the Belgium camp alongside his ex-Crystal Palace teammate Michy Batshuayi, it was a waste of time for Benteke.
Martinez only gave him six minutes of action in total, which came as Belgium were coasting to a 2-0 win over Finland in Group B.
Of course, we’re not suggesting he should’ve started.
Few players in Europe would be able to dislodge Romelu Lukaku from the starting XI.
However, after an impressive 2020/21 campaign – in which Benteke scored ten Premier League goals – he deserved more minutes.
At least he’ll be returning to south London fit and raring to go ahead of the 2021/22 season.
For now, let’s see how the Crystal Palace fans on Twitter reacted to Martinez’s baffling decision…
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