Phil Neville fumes at ‘disgrace’ Christian Benteke for fluffed Crystal Palace penalty on Match of the Day
Former Man Utd and Everton ace reckons the strike was "the worst penalty" he's ever seen
CHRISTIAN BENTEKE has been on the end of both barrels from Phil Neville after fluffing a last-minute penalty for Crystal Palace against Bournemouth.
Neville reckons the Belgian "broke protocol" when he wrestled the ball off midfielder Luka Milivojevic, who had already scored a spot kick earlier in the game.
Benteke, 27, has missed some crucial penalties in recent months, which prompted Eagles boss Roy Hodgson to promote Milivojevic, 26, to chief kicker.
And after scoring Palace's first goal from 12 yards against their relegation rivals.
But Benteke's spot kick was woeful, as he virtually passed the ball towards Cherries keeper Asmir Begovic as the keeper saved to his right with ease.
Neville, 40, said on Match of the Day: "This for me is an absolute disgrace. Milivojevic has already scored a penalty, Christian Benteke is not the greatest penalty taker — there is no way in the world he should be taking this penalty.
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"Milivojevic has got to be a bit stronger, he's broke protocol.
"If they're 3-0 up in the game and the centre forward hasn't scored you maybe say ‘yeah, let's give him the penalty,’ but this is the last minute of the game for his team maybe to get out of the bottom three."
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Palace manager Hodgson also had a run-in with a supporter after the full-time whistle, who complained that Benteke should not have taken the kick.
It was something the former England manager agreed with.
And Neville did not pull any punches in his rant on Match of the Day, with Palace still in a relegation fight and still rock bottom on 11 points from 16 games.
He added: "It's disgraceful from Benteke, a man of his experience. It is the worst penalty I've ever seen.
"He deserved it for his attitude and his selfishness. He's let his team-mates down, his supporters down and his manager down."