Benitez saves two penalties, Crystal Palace reach next round | OneFootball

Argentinian Benitez became a hero by saving two penalties that qualified Crystal Palace to continue in the EFL Cup. Meanwhile, Aston Villa suffered from the absence of Emiliano Martinez and fell from the penalty spot against Brentford.

In his debut as Crystal Palace's goalkeeper, Walter Benitez saved two penalties in the shootout and gave his team the pass to the fourth round of the English League Cup. The London team faced Milwall (from the Second Division) in the third round of the competition and, although the result was 1-1 in the 90', it was in the decisive instance where the great performance of the Argentine appeared.

The former Quilmes player arrived in the last market from PSV in the Netherlands and was able to add minutes only this Tuesday with the current FA Cup champion. On the field, he had two saves. However, it was in the shootout where he showed his class and demonstrated why he is a regular in Lionel Scaloni's Argentina squad.

Walter Benitez's saves for Crystal Palace He saved the first shot of the shootout from Tristan Crama. The Milwall captain shot weakly and the goalkeeper lunged to his right to block the shot. The second penalty he saved (the fourth in the shootout) was the one that qualified his team: Aidomo Emakhu had to score and shot hard and in the middle, but Walter Benitez guessed his intention.

Walter Benitez's happiness after his great debut at Crystal Palace

At the end of the match (where he was chosen as the man of the match) the goalkeeper did not hide his happiness after successfully completing his first game at the English club: "I am very happy because I have not played for a long time. For me, this is like a gift".

He also thanked the fans for their support, acknowledged that the match was special because it was a clash between neighboring clubs in the south of London, and assured that the team was very happy with the result.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.