Crystal Palace: Fans split over Christian Benteke after victory against Newcastle

Crystal Palace fans have been left divided by the form of Christian Benteke, after the Belgium international spurned two fantastic chances in the 1-0 win over Newcastle.
Saturday’s victory over the Magpies was one of Palace’s best performances of the season, as they smothered their visitors at Selhurst Park and were unlucky not to win by two or three goals. Steve Bruce’s side only had one real chance with Joelinton’s shot from distance, while the Eagles hit the post through Jordan Ayew and created several decent goalscoring opportunities.
Perhaps unfortunately though, those chances fell to the man who just can’t seem to catch a break in front of goal, even despite finding his first strike of the season against Everton. Benteke had three shots in the win but only one was on target, and he also completed just 56.5% of his passes, per Whoscored. Some fans were impressed by his overall play though – he won eight aerial duels and completed three dribbles – leading to a split on social media over whether the £11.7m-rated (Transfermarkt) forward is good enough…
Benteke really is awful isn’t he.
— Jonty🦅 (@JontyCPFC) February 22, 2020
Nope – had a good game. Showed he wanted to take chances on & not hide/pass then off.
Obviously missed a big chance but pretty sure it very late.
— fernled (@SuperSteCious) February 22, 2020
unreal yesterday big man👍
— Dan Clifford (@DanClifford02) February 23, 2020
Had a solid match! Just not scoring brings in the criticism…. but as a a striker he has to deliver in this area, so he is up against it for sure!
— Crystal Palace Worldwide Supporter (@meandpalace) February 23, 2020
Think he’s had benefit of the doubt for far too long now, enough of excuses, would rather have seen Tosun on from the start
— Chad~CPFC (@inkyfagin) February 22, 2020
I thought Benteke did ok yesterday. He made a huge difference for us defensively when Newcastle had a series of corners & offensively he won headers and got more involved in the play. Some nice one twos but also a glaring miss ❤️💙
— neil ogilvie (@neiog) February 23, 2020
Benteke and Joelinton
The battle of awful strikers #CRYNEW
— PalaceEagles (@PalaceEaglesc0m) February 22, 2020
Benteke’s best performance in 2 seasons that
— Fan of the Year 2020 (@MarcWilliams22) February 22, 2020
Palace fans, is Benteke doing enough without scoring goals to justify keeping his place? Join the discussion in the comments below!
