Christian Benteke: Crystal Palace need to be more ruthless

Christian Benteke has called for Crystal Palace to be more “ruthless” when seeing out games after they conceded late on against Arsenal to drop two points.

After second-half goals from Benteke and Odsonne Edouard cancelled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener, Alexandre Lacazette scored with the last kick of Monday night’s game to deny the Eagles all three points and their second Premier League win under Patrick Vieira.

It wasn’t the first time this season either that the South Londoners had conceded in the dying moments of a match, with Neal Maupay grabbing the equaliser in Palace’s 1-1 draw with Brighton in late September.

Asked following the game whether recent performances gave him confidence that Palace are getting closer to securing their second win of the season, Benteke said: “We are playing the way that the manager wants us to play, with intensity and playing football.

“But now it’s not enough to win a Premier League game. We have to be more ruthless and play with more experience to stop conceding those late goals.

“It’s another frustrating result for us. We didn’t start the way that we wanted. Arsenal put us under pressure – they scored quite quickly during the first half. In the second half, we were more aggressive – we had a great reaction.”

Speaking on whether the late equaliser conceded at the Emirates highlighted a concentration issue within the squad, Benteke said: “I can’t just say it’s concentration – it’s a lot of things going on.

“There is emotion because we are leading, we are playing away from home, it’s a tough game, and we are tired. There is no excuse because now is not the first time where we have dropped points, and we have to learn from our mistakes. But we are learning the hard way.

“In this kind of game, when you are leading, you can’t draw. In this kind of game, you have to go back home with the three points.”

Benteke’s strike on the 50th minute was his first Premier League goal of the season, and he was brought back into the starting line up after Wilfried Zaha missed the game through illness.

“This kind of game is a game where it doesn’t matter if your main players are not there,” said Benteke on the importance of Palace’s forward players showing that they can score without their talisman.

“It’s a game where you want to deliver against a big team, and now we have got a strong squad. Playing without Wilf is a big blow, but I think we did well up front. We can’t wait to have him back.

“We had a great reaction in the second half – Jordan [Ayew], Edouard and myself were a little bit more aggressive. We were a little bit ruthless, and then we got those goals, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to win the match.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD