Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: Benteke seals comeback win for 10-men Reds with controversial last gasp penalty

Liverpool secured a win at Crystal Palace with the last kick of the game, despite going a goal and a man down at Selhurst Park, but their victory came courtesy of a highly debatable penalty.

Joe Ledley opened the scoring early in the second half, netting his first goal of the season, before James Milner was sent off for the visitors.

But Eagles goalkeeper Alex McCarthy gifted Roberto Firmino the simplest of equalisers on 71 minutes after slipping while attempting to clear.

This was merely the hors d'oeuvre to the drama that followed, as just seconds before the referee was to blow for the final whistle, substitute Christian Benteke fell to the ground following a challenge by Damien Delaney and the referee pointed to the spot.

Replays appeared to show that minimal contact had been made, but this didn't matter to the Belgian, with the striker winning the game for the Reds by calmly dispatching the penalty.

The result saw Liverpool climb up to seventh place, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, while Palace remain without a Premier League win since December 19 and sit nine points above the relegation zone.

While the ending was full of drama, the game was a lively affair from early in the first half.

Adam Lallana, high on confidence after a number of recent impressive performances for Liverpool, was finding pockets of space with ease, aiming to dictate his side’s play in the final third.

But it was Yannick Bolasie and Emmanuel Adebayor for Palace that posed the most intimidating attacking threat.

Simon Mignolet was called into action with less than 10 minutes on the clock, as Adebayor played a ball into the path of the onrushing Bolasie, only for the alert Reds goalkeeper to pounce off his line and deny the Palace winger from close range.

Only moments later, Adebayor created more problems for the Liverpool defence, first attempting to catch Mignolet out with a strike from wide, before heading an effort onto the crossbar just a few yards from goal seconds later.

Jurgen Klopp’s side, while not struggling for possession, flattered to deceive in attack, overplaying and barely testing Alex McCarthy in between the Eagles’ posts.

With the game goalless at the break, Joe Ledley - who hadn’t scored for Palace in 13 months - broke the deadlock just three minutes into the second period, hitting the back of the net from the edge of the box with a low, powerful shot after the Reds failed to clear from the corner.

With Liverpool almost void of ideas in the final third, the clash was screaming out for Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho or Christian Benteke - all benched for the trip - to burst onto the scene.

Klopp opted for Coutinho with little over an hour on the clock, with the Brazilian replacing defender Jon Flanagan, but the German manager may have been questioning the decision when seconds later James Milner was shown a second yellow card.

The England international, who had been booked at the end of the first half, rashly felled Wilfried Zaha to halt a counter attack from the hosts - leaving the referee with no choice but to wield his red card.

It should have spelled curtains for Liverpool's chances, but Palace failed to capitalise and in the 72nd minute the Reds were gifted an equaliser following a howler from McCarthy.

The Eagles goalkeeper slipped while attempting a clearance, and the ball rolled to the feet of Roberto Firmino who, calm and composed, slotted the ball past the hapless Englishman.

The goal lifted Liverpool’s confidence tremendously, and despite being a man down they began to monopolise the ball and push for a winner.

Benteke, who had replaced Divock Origi in the 80th minute, burst into the box in the third of the four added minutes and dramatically fell to the floor, claiming he’d been tripped by Delaney.

The referee, to the astonishment of most onlookers, pointed to the spot and Benteke himself tidily sent the ball past McCarthy.

Whether Benteke dived is open to contention, but Palace's own plummeting fortunes are a very real fact that must be concerning everyone involved with the Eagles.