Charlton 2-1 Southend United - Charlton See Off Late Southend Fight Back
Charlton came into the match against Southend losing just 1 of their opening 5 league games, leaving them yet to be beaten at home, sitting at 3rd place in the league table and one of the best form teams in the league. Considering Southend finished just outside the playoffs last season, narrowly missing out to Millwall, they have had a rather disappointing start with only 1 win, 3 draws and a loss, with their only win coming against Blackburn on the first day of the season and being winless since, leaving them occupying 15th place. On a day where 6 of the top 7 teams played each other, there was serious potential for Charlton to make progress up the league table.
Teams
Charlton: Amos, Solly, Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva, Kashi, Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Konsa, 89), Clarke, Holmes (Dodoo, 85), Magennis
Southend United: Oxley, Hendrie (Demetriou, 75), Ferdinand, Kightly, Timlin, Cox (Robinson, 75), McGlashan (McLaughlin, 61), Leonard, Bwomono, White, Ranger
Southend got the encounter underway and started the game the brightest, having a couple of early chances. Charlton began to have chances of their own however, and started to grow into the game. Charlton's first chance came in the eighth minute when Ricky Holmes won a corner, from which, defender, Patrick Bauer, looped a header over the bar. Southend had a few chances of their own, starting in the 15th minute where Ryan Leonard headed over from a good position following a corner. Southend continued to have chances, which the Charlton defence blocked well. Arguably, the best chance of the half came in the 23rd minute when Michael Kightly's cross was deflected goal bound by Jason Pearce, forcing Ben Amos into a great save with his feet, after being wrong footed and diving the wrong way, only for Nile Ranger to fire wide from the rebound. Shortly after that, in roughly the 24th minute, Charlton's Ahmed Kashi stung the palms of Southend 'keeper, Mark Oxley with a shot from well outside the box. In the 32nd minute, after two unsuccessful crosses, a Jay DaSilva cross was met by a Josh Magennis header straight at Oxley. At the other end, one minute later, Simon Cox was free in the Charlton area and his effort was bravely blocked by Pearce. Towards the end of the half, in the 40th minute Billy Clarke came close to opening the scoring with a left footed shot went narrowly wide of the post. The half finished with a booking to Southend's Jermaine McGlashan for a poor challenge on Kashi and another Holmes cross was claimed by Oxley. The first half was rather even, with Charlton pressuring well and attacking with intent, but still conceding chances, which Southend failed to make count. Southend were also wasteful with their chances. The chances Southend were having were well worked but ultimately lacked a quality finish, similarly with Charlton at the other end.
The first chance of the second half came from Southend, with Cox firing over the bar from the edge of the area. Holmes was the next player to get booked following a trip on Ryan Leonard. Charlton then began to dominate and had numerous chances. Firstly, a Holmes cross was nodded back across goal from Clarke for Jake Forster-Caskey to attempt an acrobatic overhead kick, but was comfortably saved by Oxley yet again. Then, Fosu whipped in a cross from the right that just missed Magennis. Charlton continued to keep up the pressure and continued crated chances that came to nothing. The deadlock was finally broken after Charlton's Chris Solly sent a wonderful chipped cross into the box for Magennis to powerfully head home on the 65 minute, giving the addicks a 1-0 lead. Charlton then scored again, just three minutes later in the 68th minute through Holmes. He turned his man, Stephen McLaughlin, and then curled an effort into the bottom corner with a brilliant strike. Southend did reduce the deficit and pull a goal back in the 79th minute through a John White header to create a nervy end to the game. Southend then kept on attacking, looking for that elusive equaliser. Southend had a shot cleared off the line after Amos missed a ball into the box and Leonard's shot was knocked away by Magennis. Clarke then found himself in the referee's book for timewasting after Southend won a free kick. It was Kightly's turn to get yellow carded next as the Southend winger cynically bought down Fosu broke free. Southend continued to attack, winning a corner towards the end of the game, but they just couldn't find that equaliser.
Overall, in the first half, Charlton failed to really get going and play the way they have done previously this season. Long balls and counter attacks from Southend sometimes caught the defence out, however, Charlton defended well and were rarely troubled for the majority of the game. Charlton had an excellent spell where the link up play and passing was excellent and capitalised on their chances to score the two goals. After Southend scored their consolation, Charlton managed the game well towards the end of the game and defended well to maintain the lead, despite the Southend pressure. The result means Charlton have now won their last four games and have maintained their unbeaten home record this season going into possibly the toughest game of the season so far, Wigan at The Valley. Charlton have now moved up to 2nd in the league, just one point behind Shrewsbury, while Southend move down to 17th.
Teams
Charlton: Amos, Solly, Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva, Kashi, Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Konsa, 89), Clarke, Holmes (Dodoo, 85), Magennis
Southend United: Oxley, Hendrie (Demetriou, 75), Ferdinand, Kightly, Timlin, Cox (Robinson, 75), McGlashan (McLaughlin, 61), Leonard, Bwomono, White, Ranger
Southend got the encounter underway and started the game the brightest, having a couple of early chances. Charlton began to have chances of their own however, and started to grow into the game. Charlton's first chance came in the eighth minute when Ricky Holmes won a corner, from which, defender, Patrick Bauer, looped a header over the bar. Southend had a few chances of their own, starting in the 15th minute where Ryan Leonard headed over from a good position following a corner. Southend continued to have chances, which the Charlton defence blocked well. Arguably, the best chance of the half came in the 23rd minute when Michael Kightly's cross was deflected goal bound by Jason Pearce, forcing Ben Amos into a great save with his feet, after being wrong footed and diving the wrong way, only for Nile Ranger to fire wide from the rebound. Shortly after that, in roughly the 24th minute, Charlton's Ahmed Kashi stung the palms of Southend 'keeper, Mark Oxley with a shot from well outside the box. In the 32nd minute, after two unsuccessful crosses, a Jay DaSilva cross was met by a Josh Magennis header straight at Oxley. At the other end, one minute later, Simon Cox was free in the Charlton area and his effort was bravely blocked by Pearce. Towards the end of the half, in the 40th minute Billy Clarke came close to opening the scoring with a left footed shot went narrowly wide of the post. The half finished with a booking to Southend's Jermaine McGlashan for a poor challenge on Kashi and another Holmes cross was claimed by Oxley. The first half was rather even, with Charlton pressuring well and attacking with intent, but still conceding chances, which Southend failed to make count. Southend were also wasteful with their chances. The chances Southend were having were well worked but ultimately lacked a quality finish, similarly with Charlton at the other end.
The first chance of the second half came from Southend, with Cox firing over the bar from the edge of the area. Holmes was the next player to get booked following a trip on Ryan Leonard. Charlton then began to dominate and had numerous chances. Firstly, a Holmes cross was nodded back across goal from Clarke for Jake Forster-Caskey to attempt an acrobatic overhead kick, but was comfortably saved by Oxley yet again. Then, Fosu whipped in a cross from the right that just missed Magennis. Charlton continued to keep up the pressure and continued crated chances that came to nothing. The deadlock was finally broken after Charlton's Chris Solly sent a wonderful chipped cross into the box for Magennis to powerfully head home on the 65 minute, giving the addicks a 1-0 lead. Charlton then scored again, just three minutes later in the 68th minute through Holmes. He turned his man, Stephen McLaughlin, and then curled an effort into the bottom corner with a brilliant strike. Southend did reduce the deficit and pull a goal back in the 79th minute through a John White header to create a nervy end to the game. Southend then kept on attacking, looking for that elusive equaliser. Southend had a shot cleared off the line after Amos missed a ball into the box and Leonard's shot was knocked away by Magennis. Clarke then found himself in the referee's book for timewasting after Southend won a free kick. It was Kightly's turn to get yellow carded next as the Southend winger cynically bought down Fosu broke free. Southend continued to attack, winning a corner towards the end of the game, but they just couldn't find that equaliser.
Overall, in the first half, Charlton failed to really get going and play the way they have done previously this season. Long balls and counter attacks from Southend sometimes caught the defence out, however, Charlton defended well and were rarely troubled for the majority of the game. Charlton had an excellent spell where the link up play and passing was excellent and capitalised on their chances to score the two goals. After Southend scored their consolation, Charlton managed the game well towards the end of the game and defended well to maintain the lead, despite the Southend pressure. The result means Charlton have now won their last four games and have maintained their unbeaten home record this season going into possibly the toughest game of the season so far, Wigan at The Valley. Charlton have now moved up to 2nd in the league, just one point behind Shrewsbury, while Southend move down to 17th.
Written By Luke Boatfield
Comments
Post a Comment