Crystal Palace 2-1 Bolton Wanderers

  • Published
Media caption,

Highlights: Crystal Palace 2-1 Bolton

Christian Benteke came off the bench and scored twice for Crystal Palace as they fought back to beat Bolton in their FA Cup third-round replay.

Benteke headed in after appearing as a second-half substitute, before the striker spun and fired home the winner.

Bolton winger James Henry, who missed a number of chances in the first game, had looped over Julian Speroni in the second half to put the visitors ahead.

Palace host Manchester City in round four on 28 January at 16:00 GMT.

The Eagles have never won the competition and were losing finalists against fellow Premier League side Manchester United last season, and could have been on the end of a shock loss when they fell behind to their League One opponents.

But manager Sam Allardyce - who was in charge of Bolton from 1999 to 2007 - sent Benteke on to rescue the tie and the former Liverpool man showed his class.

Off the mark at last

This was Allardyce's sixth game in charge of Palace after being appointed as manager in December and his first job since leaving the England national side after just one game and 67 days.

And after picking up his first victory, attention now turns to the Premier League match against Everton on Saturday. Palace lie one place outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

"It is nice to get through and of course when Manchester City come in a couple of weeks it will be nice to play that game, but it is all about Everton in the league now," Allardyce said afterwards.

"Wins grow confidence, there is no doubt about that. How much confidence we get from this will show on Saturday.

"I need the players to play better, to hit top form and help us get out of the position we are in. This comes from believing in your ability."

Bolton back on the up?

Bolton were once a fixture in the top flight before their relegation in 2012 and they slipped even further after finishing bottom of the Championship last term.

But after the appointment of former Bradford manager Phil Parkinson in the summer, the side now lie third in League One. The Trotters travel to Southend on Saturday but have not won in their past three league games.

Parkinson said: "I am very proud of the lads tonight. Over two games, we have taken a Premier League team right to the wire. The lads take a lot of credit for that.

"We have to recover from this quickly physically. We have to get rested and make sure we go to Southend and get our league form back on track."

Sorry, we can't display this part of the article any more.

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.