Charlton Athletic 3 - 0 Coventry City

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

Match report and analysis as Sky Blues stay rooted to the bottom of League One



The two sets of fans united before the match in an impassioned protest against their respective owners but it was the Valiants faithful who were cheering at the end as they condemned the Sky Blues to their heaviest league defeat of the season.

Trailing at half-time the Sky Blues seemed to be battling their way back into the game until a sucker-punch goal put Charlton back in control – bustling centre-forward Josh Magennis the man who made all the difference. The game got off to a bizarre start as, ten seconds in, the fans unleashed a swarm of rubber pigs on to the pitch forcing referee Darren Deadman to call an instant halt.

It took five minutes to clear the porcine detritus and it was Coventry who seemed more distracted by the delay as Charlton took control thanks largely to the eye-catching midfield invention of Lookman and Holmes. Bauer’s downward header from Lookman’s corner scraped the foot of the back post, Novak stretched to divert Holmes’s shot but couldn’t find the power or direction to beat Burge and Novak miscued from a good position after Lookman had picked McCann’s pocket.

The Sky Blues summoned up their first really incisive move after 24 post flying pigs minutes, Sterry twice swapping passes with Bigirimana in a classic counter-attack before firing into the side netting. But Venus was promptly forced to shuffle his back-four as Page, having strained his hamstring in an earlier overlap, limped off – Sterry taking his left-back berth while Willis switched to the right and substitute Ricketts slotted into the middle. Despite the disruption, City were desperately unlucky not to equalise, Bigirimana’s clever back-heel teeing up Lameiras for a 20-yard shot that smacked against the post.

But seconds later Charlton made the breakthrough – Ulvestad’s volleyed through ball leaving Holmes completely clear to jab a shot past the hopelessly exposed Burge. Mr Deadman gave his linesman an inquiring look but there was no offside reprieve. City looked much brighter as the second half got underway with no supporter intervention and they almost hauled themselves level with flurry of pressure in the 52nd minute – Stevenson’s shot blocked, Wright’s follow-up volley saved and McCann’s third-bite effort pushed round the post.

City were let off the hook on the hour – Burge standing tall to block Novak’s close-range shot from prime position – but they quickly threatened at the other end as Lameiras wriggled through but couldn’t find the angle to bother Rudd. Venus shook it up for the final 25 minutes, sending on Reid and Jones and switching to the 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by Tony Mowbray for much of last season. Burge kept the visitors in the game with a stunning reflex save from Magennis’s header after Holmes had won a cheap free-kick against Sterry.

But the keeper was sold short five minutes later as Magennis harried Turnbull into a mistake wide out and rolled the ball across for Lookman to turn home. McCann and Bigirimana went close with volleys as City tried to battle back. But Lookman spooned an even easier chance over the bar after Magennis had again embarrassed Turnbull and the bustling centre-forward got the goal he deserved as Ulvestad clipped a diagonal through the stretched City defence.