Charlton 0-3 Wigan Athletic - Charlton Collapse at the Hands of a Wonderful Wigan Display
Wigan and Charlton are two teams expected to be battling for promotion come the end of the season. Wigan have had quite an inconsistent start to the season, starting with 4 wins in their first four games in all competitions, but have dropped off recently with only 1 win and a draw in their last 4 games. Charlton however, have had a brilliant start to the season, winning 5 of their 6 league games and the all but 1 of their 3 cup games. Coming into the game, Charlton find themselves in second place, while Wigan sit in 8th place after just losing to table toppers, Shrewsbury.
Teams
Charlton: Amos, Solly, Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva, Kashi (Konsa, 68), Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Ahearne-Grant, 68), Clarke (Dodoo, 74), Holmes, Magennis
Wigan Athletic: Jones, Byrne, Morsy, Evans, Grigg (Power, 78), Massey, Bruce, Jacobs (Elder, 90+2), Powell (Toney, 74), James, Burn
What would seem to be a battle of the league one giants off the pitch, was the complete opposite on it. Charlton capitulated and struggled to get going, meanwhile Wigan played Charlton apart. Wigan started the game as they meant to go on, creating two very good chances which they should have scored in the first 5 minutes. Charlton then came close just minutes later, with Ahmed Kashi opting to shoot from outside the box from a corner, only for his shot to fall back to him after being well blocked and his follow up effort sailed just wide of the post. Both teams matched each other for a period. On the half hour mark Jake Forster-Caskey rattled the crossbar with a long shot from the edge of the box. The ball fell to Magennis, who was pressured by Wigan defenders, in the middle of the box, but he could only steer his header wide of the post. Just before the break, Wigan found themselves 1-0 up. The goal had been coming and Wigan were slightly the better side. Poor defending by Kashi allowed Reece James to roll a ball across the box from the left side and Gavin Massey was on hand to tap in.
Wigan started the second half as they did the first. Again, just one minute after kick-off, Wigan's Nick Powell had a shot from outside the area which was well saved by Ben Amos. The first booking of the game went Wigan's way, with Sam Morsy going in the referee's book for tripping Tariqe Fosu. Charlton's Ricky Holmes was the next man in the book, for another trip, this time on former addick, Nathan Byrne. Wigan then received another yellow card as Alex Bruce went through the back of Holmes. Charlton's first big chance of the half fell to Billy Clarke who back-heel flicked a Ricky Holmes free kick just inches wide of the post. Wigan were then 2-0 up on the 70th minute. Massey was the scorer again, but this time, it was Byrne with the assist. Massey and Byrne played a one-two with each other, resulting in Massey having time in the box to shape, shoot and score with help from Jason Pearce's deflection. Jake Forster-Caskey was the next Charlton player to make his way into the book for a sliding challenge on Lee Evans. Followed by another Wigan booking to Ivan Toney for timewasting. Wigan then finished the game off by scoring a third goal in the 87th minute. Jay DaSilva's clearance was poor from James' ball in and fell straight to Morsy, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the goal, in off the post. The final action of the game was a booking to Charlton captain, Chris Solly, who was booked late on in the final minute of the game.
Wigan were the much better team the whole way through the game. They forced Charlton into mistakes, didn't allow them to play the way they had done previously this season while playing excellently themselves, they managed the game well and were hardly ever troubled. Ultimately, Wigan were better than Charlton in every position on the pitch. Charlton manager Karl Robinson had this to say in his post-match interview, “Today we lost 11 battles. I count myself in that, to make it 12. I lost my battle with their manager and everyone of my players lost their battle with their players. We couldn’t get any rhythm." After that performance, I'd expect Wigan to finish in at least the top two come the end of the season, they have arguably the best team in the league and play the best football in the league. For Charlton, there was a severe lack of a back-up plan and the bench consisted of mainly youth team players who would be unlikely to change or impact the game. One criticism MK Dons fans had with Robinson was his lack of a plan B, which continues to be the issue at Charlton. This may also be because he hasn't had the backing from owner, Roland Duchâtelet, to add to the squad, meaning he has to rely on youth players to fill the bench. Over the last couple of seasons, Charlton have had extremely threadbare squads, one of which got relegated from the championship. The build-up play was to slow and for the most part, predictable. The team may have been fatigued, but the season is just 7 games in, so tiredness shouldn't really be an issue at this stage. Charlton had what was, hopefully, just an off game and will look to continue their great start to the season at Gillingham on Saturday. Gillingham currently sit in second bottom of the table, in 23rd place. There were a couple of positives Charlton can take, however. Despite the poor performance, the fans were excellent throughout the game. Urging and encouraging the players off at half time and clapping the players off come the final whistle, which Robinson praised, saying “The fans stuck with us right until the end and even clapped the players off at the end of the game, so I have to apologise to them." Finally, the team didn't seem to give up and kept on trying to change the game, even with Wigan being the better team and dominating the game.
Written by Luke Boatfield
Teams
Charlton: Amos, Solly, Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva, Kashi (Konsa, 68), Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Ahearne-Grant, 68), Clarke (Dodoo, 74), Holmes, Magennis
Wigan Athletic: Jones, Byrne, Morsy, Evans, Grigg (Power, 78), Massey, Bruce, Jacobs (Elder, 90+2), Powell (Toney, 74), James, Burn
What would seem to be a battle of the league one giants off the pitch, was the complete opposite on it. Charlton capitulated and struggled to get going, meanwhile Wigan played Charlton apart. Wigan started the game as they meant to go on, creating two very good chances which they should have scored in the first 5 minutes. Charlton then came close just minutes later, with Ahmed Kashi opting to shoot from outside the box from a corner, only for his shot to fall back to him after being well blocked and his follow up effort sailed just wide of the post. Both teams matched each other for a period. On the half hour mark Jake Forster-Caskey rattled the crossbar with a long shot from the edge of the box. The ball fell to Magennis, who was pressured by Wigan defenders, in the middle of the box, but he could only steer his header wide of the post. Just before the break, Wigan found themselves 1-0 up. The goal had been coming and Wigan were slightly the better side. Poor defending by Kashi allowed Reece James to roll a ball across the box from the left side and Gavin Massey was on hand to tap in.
Wigan started the second half as they did the first. Again, just one minute after kick-off, Wigan's Nick Powell had a shot from outside the area which was well saved by Ben Amos. The first booking of the game went Wigan's way, with Sam Morsy going in the referee's book for tripping Tariqe Fosu. Charlton's Ricky Holmes was the next man in the book, for another trip, this time on former addick, Nathan Byrne. Wigan then received another yellow card as Alex Bruce went through the back of Holmes. Charlton's first big chance of the half fell to Billy Clarke who back-heel flicked a Ricky Holmes free kick just inches wide of the post. Wigan were then 2-0 up on the 70th minute. Massey was the scorer again, but this time, it was Byrne with the assist. Massey and Byrne played a one-two with each other, resulting in Massey having time in the box to shape, shoot and score with help from Jason Pearce's deflection. Jake Forster-Caskey was the next Charlton player to make his way into the book for a sliding challenge on Lee Evans. Followed by another Wigan booking to Ivan Toney for timewasting. Wigan then finished the game off by scoring a third goal in the 87th minute. Jay DaSilva's clearance was poor from James' ball in and fell straight to Morsy, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the goal, in off the post. The final action of the game was a booking to Charlton captain, Chris Solly, who was booked late on in the final minute of the game.
Wigan were the much better team the whole way through the game. They forced Charlton into mistakes, didn't allow them to play the way they had done previously this season while playing excellently themselves, they managed the game well and were hardly ever troubled. Ultimately, Wigan were better than Charlton in every position on the pitch. Charlton manager Karl Robinson had this to say in his post-match interview, “Today we lost 11 battles. I count myself in that, to make it 12. I lost my battle with their manager and everyone of my players lost their battle with their players. We couldn’t get any rhythm." After that performance, I'd expect Wigan to finish in at least the top two come the end of the season, they have arguably the best team in the league and play the best football in the league. For Charlton, there was a severe lack of a back-up plan and the bench consisted of mainly youth team players who would be unlikely to change or impact the game. One criticism MK Dons fans had with Robinson was his lack of a plan B, which continues to be the issue at Charlton. This may also be because he hasn't had the backing from owner, Roland Duchâtelet, to add to the squad, meaning he has to rely on youth players to fill the bench. Over the last couple of seasons, Charlton have had extremely threadbare squads, one of which got relegated from the championship. The build-up play was to slow and for the most part, predictable. The team may have been fatigued, but the season is just 7 games in, so tiredness shouldn't really be an issue at this stage. Charlton had what was, hopefully, just an off game and will look to continue their great start to the season at Gillingham on Saturday. Gillingham currently sit in second bottom of the table, in 23rd place. There were a couple of positives Charlton can take, however. Despite the poor performance, the fans were excellent throughout the game. Urging and encouraging the players off at half time and clapping the players off come the final whistle, which Robinson praised, saying “The fans stuck with us right until the end and even clapped the players off at the end of the game, so I have to apologise to them." Finally, the team didn't seem to give up and kept on trying to change the game, even with Wigan being the better team and dominating the game.
Written by Luke Boatfield
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