A look at Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke’s return to form against Chelsea

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Crystal Palace completed one of the biggest shocks of the calendar year so far as they ran out 2-1 winners away to the inevitable champions Chelsea. The match looked set to be a routine Blues victory when Cesc Fabregas opened up the scoring within the first five minutes, but the Eagles astonished the Stamford Bridge crowd by netting twice in quick succession via Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke, with both players also assisting the other’s goal.

The game was a particularly important one for Belgium forward Benteke. Having only scored one goal since early December, coming against Bournemouth at the end of January, it’s fair to say that the ex-Liverpool man was having a rough time of late. Despite his lack of goals, Allardyce has stuck by Benteke, having completed the full 90 minutes in his last ten outings.

In all the games you would’ve expected Benteke to shine once again, away to Chelsea is probably very low on the list. Yet there seemed to be a full and complete understanding between the Belgian and Ivorian winger Wilfried Zaha throughout the game, something that has only been intermittent throughout a majority of the campaign.

Benteke’s hold up play in the opening few minutes was fantastic. With his back to goal, he was able to pick out the right pass whilst simultaneously holding off Chelsea’s oncoming defenders. The ball to Zaha to set up the equaliser was a testament to this, and although you could argue it was a magnificent individual goal, it wouldn’t have been possible without Benteke’s input.

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Having scored twice on the international stage over the domestic break, it would’ve been fair to say that most Crystal Palace supporters would’ve been dubious about whether he could carry that form into the Premier League. Nevertheless, Benteke silenced all his critics on the 11th-minute mark. A driving run towards the Chelsea backline caused pandemonium as the ball broke to Zaha, who played in Benteke just 10 yards out. With Courtois rushing to smother the ball, the 26-year-old dummied his countryman before sending a chip into the back of the net. It was certainly an extraordinary finish from a man who has been short of confidence in recent weeks.

The other significant role played by Benteke was winning the ariel battles from long balls. With Palace only maintaining a quarter of the possession throughout the game, it was imperative that the Belgian hold up the play in the opposition half whenever possible and ignite an attack. Benteke won an awestriking 11 ariel duels – more than the whole of Chelsea team combined – thus proving how much of a successful outlet he was whenever his team needed to take the pressure off.

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Many will praise the displays of Zaha and Mamadou Sakho as the main reasons for the victory, but Benteke’s performance shouldn’t be overlooked. Sam Allardyce’s team are set to propel themselves into mid-table should their big target man keep up the form he displayed on Saturday. The only concern would be his lack of home goals, with every single league goal this season coming away from Selhurst Park.

Feature image: All rights reserved by Christine Sanjaya.