Christian Benteke 25 games 19 goals
Leading the MLS Golden Boot Race top scorer
Aston Villa paid £7million ($9.3m at current rates) to sign him from Genk, a massive amount in that era’s market for a largely unknown player. In the press and the stands alike, there was skepticism. Benteke remembers his nerves before his debut for the club, against Swansea City on September 15. He was introduced for his debut with 20 minutes to play and made it 2-0 to Villa after pouncing on a howler by Swansea center-back Ashley Williams.
To this day, it remains his all-time favourite goal.It’s not the nicest goal but it was my first goal with Aston Villa,” says Benteke. “The reason I say that is because I was an unknown player, I’m coming from a small country, Belgium, moving to the big scene, scoring on my debut. The price that the club paid for me was really really high for an unknown player. That goal dictated the rest of my time in England. It gave me the confidence, the respect from my team-mates, and the love from the fans.”
Benteke was an immediate success at Villa and his productivity rarely waned. He scored 42 goals in 89 appearances with the club, including a pair of hat-tricks, the second coming against Queens Park Rangers in April 2015.
Benteke’s first two strikes of the evening were clinical, right-footed finishes. The first took a helpful deflection…The second showed great technique, as he shaped to bend it in the far corner, using the QPR defender to shield the ball from the goalkeeper, before curling it into the near corner. Neither defensive player knew what was going on.
His third strike of the night — which came with Villa down a goal in the dying moments of the match — felt like a total departure.
The Belgian walked up to a dead ball some 25 yards from goal, passing by a shocked Charles N’Zogbia, Villa’s preferred man on set pieces.
“I never ever took free kicks in my life,” says Benteke. “I remember Charles N’Zogbia, he was like, ‘Let me take it!’. I was like, ‘No, no, no’. We were losing as well, 3-2, I had two goals, I was feeling myself. I was like, ‘Tonight is my night’. I told him, ‘No, bro, I got this’. I talked to him in a way (that suggested), ‘Hey, I’m a specialist’ (he laughs). That was funny. This is a striker’s life. When everything goes well you do things that you don’t even know how you did it.”
Benteke’s inch-perfect free kick clattered off the near post and into the net, drawing the home side level and sending Villa Park into bedlam.
“I live with the moment,” says Benteke. “That’s a striker’s life. Sometimes when you feel yourself you might shoot from 30 yards, something that you never do because maybe prior to that you had two goals and you want the hat trick so you’ll try and do things that, in a normal game you won’t do.”
Benteke’s consistency at Villa earned him the adoration of the club’s fanbase, with one in particular taking things to extreme heights. Prince William was given a pair of Benteke’s socks, which he has sported in charity matches over the years. It’s unclear if he ever washed them.
The Belgian striker chuckles.
“I spoke to him when I was with Villa, because he’s a Villa fan,” says Benteke. “I’ve been invited to represent Aston Villa somewhere in London, there was a gala, or a ceremony or something. He’s a really cool guy.”
That's the Aston Villa Benteke section . Full article:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5777167/2024/09/20/christian-benteke-dc-united-interview-analysis-mls/
