Christian Benteke says sorry to Crystal Palace team-mates over Bournemouth penalty saga
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Christian Benteke has apologised to his Crystal Palace team-mates for missing a late penalty against Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Belgium striker took the ball off regular taker Luka Milivojevic – only to see Asmir Begovic save his tame kick.
The game ended 2-2 to leave Palace at the bottom of the Premier League .
Manager Roy Hodgson admitted his anger after the match.
Before tomorrow's visit of Watford , the former England boss said: "After the game, I didn't say much to him at all. It was a raw moment, especially for him.
(Image: Dan Istitene)
"The first opportunity, this morning, he gets the players around, says his piece – he’s already said it to me – that’s a strong and correct thing to do, and he makes it perfectly clear, ‘I took this responsibility; I shouldn’t have done because I’m breaking ranks, I’m not obeying team instructions, so I apologise for that, but I’m now going to get on with it’, and once more, I’m pretty sure he’ll make it up to us.
"I am very happy with the way he has reacted to it and taken responsibility and the way he has explained that to the rest of the team.
(Image: Jordan Mansfield)
"He was very confident against Bournemouth. He played well in the game and was very confident he would score.
"He persuaded Luka to take it. He wanted it, he was convinced he would score it, he felt good about his game. No-one was more devastated he didn't score.
"These things do happen in a football match. We have been, not lucky, but received rewards in the closing minutes of matches."
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Hodgson was also keen to stress there were positives to take from Benteke's performance - despite the late miss. He added: "Let me make one more point about Benteke: he played very well on Saturday.
"That was a really good performance, so lets not forget that. At the moment Benteke, as far as everyone’s concerned, is some sort of pantomime villain.
"But that’s also a bit unfair if you look at his performance, because it was really very good."