Ayoze Perez believes Joselu “deserved” his goal against Liverpool and has backed the Newcastle United striker to embark on a scoring run.
The 27-year-old, albeit rather fortuitously, netted his second goal for the Magpies to equalise against the Reds and earn a 1-1 draw for Newcastle against Benitez’s former club.
In the 36th minute, Jonjo Shelvey - recalled to the side and starting alongside Mikel Merino for the first time - played an excellent through-ball to Joselu, who advanced on goal.
After the Spaniard delayed before shooting, Reds defender Joel Matip slid in and inadvertently knocked the ball on to Joselu’s leg, before it ricocheted past Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and into the net, cancelling out Philippe Coutinho’s exceptional opener.
It was Joselu’s second goal since his £4.8million move from Stoke City over the summer, and came on the back of the forward missing four clear-cut chances in his past two matches.
Perez has revealed that his fellow Spaniard has been “upset” following his missed opportunities, but believes Joselu will now hit the back of the net on a regular basis.
“To be honest, he deserved that,” Perez said of Joselu’s goal.
“There have been a couple of weeks where he has been a bit upset because of the chances he had, but he scored and hopefully that will start a run where he scores a lot of goals for us.
“He is getting chances, and that is the most important thing for a striker. Sometimes you score, sometimes you might miss, but you don’t worry too much as long as the chances continue to come along.
“The most important thing is that we are creating those chances – that means we are doing something well as a team.
“We just have to keep working in the same way, and with the same mentality.”