EFL League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 13,167 (498 away)
Today it was back to The Valley for the second consecutive Saturday. Not that I was particularly looking forward to it, after last Saturday's desperate performance in losing at home to Wigan, continuing a very average start to the sesaon in which, whilst looking relatively solid, have offered close to nothing going forward.
Having not played in midweek, Charlton came into this game in the relegation zone, in 21st place following just a solitary point from their opening four league games. Crewe Alexandra had an almost identical record, also only picking up just a point from their opening four league games, with the same goal difference, but had both scored and conceded one less than Charlton. Crewe had not scored since their opening day 1-1 draw at home to Cheltenham. Last season, Crewe finished in 12th place following promotion from League Two. Before the start of the season, Charlton would have fancied theur chances of three points at home to Crewe, no disrespect intended, but with the dire form that Charlton are currently in, this game was probably considered more of a yardstick on how the Addicks will fare against mid-table opponents, where there are worrying signs that Charlton may well be confined to this season unless some decent squad strengthening continues by the end of this season. An interesting signing was made by Charlton in midweek in the form of Elliott Lee, son of Charlton legend Robert Lee, who hopefully will bring some more attacking intent from midfield in due course, and today's game would have an added dimension with Charlie Kirk lining up against his former club, having only signed for Charlton from Crewe a couple of weeks ago.
On a cloudy afternoon, Charlton showed much more attacking intent right from kick-off, looking much more of a threat in the opening stages than they had in their previous two home games, and with just two minutes on the clock Jayden Stockley sent in a inswinging cross to the far post, and Ryan Inniss saw his bullet header parried by the Crewe keeper. Crewe did weather the storm and came into the game more around the 20 minute mark onwards, but Charlton opened the scoring on 36 minutes, when Chris Gunter crossed a perfect ball from close to the left corner flag and Diallang Jaiyesimi forced his way in front of a defender to head the ball home. Within barely a minute, Crewe saw a powerful shot by Callum Ainsley parried away by MacGillivray at his near post, but Charlton doubled their lead on 41 minutes following a quick break. Chris Gunter won possession with a sliding challenge at the edge of his own penalty area, the ball fell to Jaiyesimi, who sent a diagonal ball forward to Connor Washington, who took a touch before playing a slide rule pass into the path of Stockley who had time his run perfectly, and he rounded the keeper before tapping into the empty net.
The second half was fairly comfortable for Charlton in their two goal lead, and had some chances to further increase thier lead, Chris Gunter sending a 25 yard shot just over the bar, and Washington and Stockley both forced smart saves from the keeper. 17 year old Deji Elewere was handed his home debut just after the hour, going on to look very calm and assured. Crewe did have some chances to at least pull a goal back - in the 72nd minute, Callum McFadzean fired in a shot from 25 yards which MacGillivray parried away at his near post, and in the 78th minute, a fierce goalbound header by Chris Porter from a corner was headed away by Albie Morgan. Charlton saw the remainder of the game out quite comfortably to seal their first three points of the season, as well as a clean sheet, which hopefully gives the Addicks something to build on as they attempt to climb the table.
Short video highlights can be viewed by clicking here
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