Stunning save or miss of the season? Palace keeper Walter Benitez denies Liam Delap from four yards
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Crystal Palace goalkeeper Walter Benitez produced one of the saves of the Premier League season so far as he kept out Nottingham Forest striker Liam Delap from point-blank range.
Forest were leading 1-0, thanks to an early goal by Dan Ndoye, when Morgan Gibbs-White tried his luck from outside the box. Benitez tipped the Forest captain’s deflected effort on to the crossbar, but when it bounced down in the six-yard box it seemed certain the unmarked Delap would knock in Forest’s second goal.
Yet incredibly, Benitez jumped up and stood firm as Delap smashed a powerful volley straight at the goalkeeper’s chest from four yards.
The moment was described as “extraordinary” on Sky Sports. “Can you believe that passage of play?” said co-commentator Alan Smith.
While Benitez took the applause from his teammates, Delap could equally have been accused of producing one of the misses of the season.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, pundit Danny Gabbidon said: “Liam Delap has to score. He goes for power. It’s point-blank range and Walter Benitez doesn’t know much about it. It sits nicely for him and if he just side foots it down, it’s 2-0.”
To add to the damage for Forest, Palace then went down the other end and equalised just five minutes later, when Daichi Kamada pounced a ball in the box and finished from close range.
