Crystal Palace 4 (Campbell 51, Gayle 59, 74 pens,86) Charlton 1 (Sarr 65).
Despite years of so-called trying, Charlton haven’t quite got the hang of this Cup giantkilling lark yet. The penny hasn’t dropped that when you’re up against clearly superior opposition, the gap can sometimes be closed by spirit, heart and determination. In a word, guts. It also helps if you have a surprise or two up your sleeve. And also if you can play a bit.
For example, David was a rank outsider when he turned up to take on Goliath. But he was never the hopeless underdog history has made him out to be. That was no lucky shot the kid pulled off. He was obviously a deadeye Dave with slingshot and rock. What he had going for him was attitude and an edge.
Confronted by detested neighbours Crystal Palace in this Capital Cup third round tie, Charlton were by contrast drearily feeble. The marshmallows and cream puffs they catapulted at Palace wouldn’t have dented an egg, much less a confident Premier League defence. Their entire output amounted to a couple of off-target efforts from Conor McAleny, a decent shot by Karlan Ahearne-Grant which was capably dealt with by Wayne Hennessy and Tony Watt’s second half toepoke that zipped narrowly wide. In fairness, a reasonable appeal for a penalty was turned down when McAleny was chopped down inside the area but it all amounted to zilch, zip, zero. They were easy pickings for Palace, who squandered chances during a relatively even first half before turning on the burners and pulling away in a one-sided second period.
One of the problems is that the Addicks have very little up front, a situation complicated by the in-and-out availability of their fragile main strikers. Simon Makienok is the latest absentee through injury and with Tony Watt on the bench, Ahearne-Grant and McAleny were thrown in at the deep end at Selhurst Park. The youngsters did their best but found the going tough. Palace’s four goals, meanwhile, were shared by Frazier Campbell and Dwight Gayle, neither of whom start in the Premier League. This was a secondary home side carefully selected by Alan Pardew to do the job with as little stress as possible. He could afford a wry smile as the usual foulmouthed abuse wafted over to him from the Arthur Wait Stand. He’s heard it all before. Not that he cares one way or the other about it.
Palace made heavy weather of it before the interval. Gayle’s early free kick skimmed the bar before the elusive Wilfried Zaha wastefully headed Chung-yong Lee’s precise cross over the top. An error by the infuriating Zakaraya Bergdich allowed Lee to set up a close range shot by Campbell which Alou Diarra’s head diverted over the bar, then Gayle’s 25-yarder shaved the left post. In a rare foray at the other end, Ahearne-Grant’s skidding effort forced Hennessy’s solitary genuine save. Having defended capably enough, the visitors retired in reasonable shape at the break.
A different, more motivated Palace emerged upon resumption. Campbell headed Zaha’s perfect centre inexplicably wide but redeemed himself a minute later. Zaha’s weaving dribble caused chaos in the heart of Charlton’s rearguard and Campbell pivoted to plant a low drive in the bottom left corner. Almost immediately, McAleny’s feet were cut from under him inside the penalty area but referee Neil Swarbrick was not only unmoved by the incident but compounded his villainy by almost instantly awarding the Eagles a penalty for a far less obvious offence. Caught on the wrong side of Campbell as the forward eluded him, Diarra’s leaning challenge was clumsy and marginally illegal. The centre half was booked before Gayle made easy work of converting the spotkick.
Five minutes later, Charlton were surprisingly back in it with half a chance as Naby Sarr forcefully headed substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s corner through Hennessy’s weak hands. It won’t have escaped Guy Luzon’s attention that his side’s last three goal have been scored by centre backs and that his frontline strikers (Makienok, Watt and Vetokele) have chalked up just four goals between them.
As if affronted by the Addicks’ success, Swarbrick’s second crucial intervention restored Palace’s two-goal cushion. Again Diarra lost his man, this time the waspish Gayle, yet again he awkwardly bundled his opponent to the ground, on this occasion even less culpably than before. Deaf to suggestions that he might be a “homer” Swarbrick pointed to the spot and flourished a straight red card at Diarra. Gayle buried his second penalty and completed his hat-trick four minutes from time by outjumping a threadbare defence to head home Lee’s right wing corner.
So Charlton’s little adventure in the Capital Cup was emphatically over. They might have dodged a bullet in avoiding a potentially painful visit to Manchester City in the next round but defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace is a bitter pill at any time. The last laugh belonged to Pardew, unruffled by the toxic atmosphere and vindicated by decisive victory over his would-be tormentors. Blimey, football can be galling!
Palace: Henessy, Mariappa, Delaney (Hangeland 34), Souare, Kelly, Zaha, Lee, McArthur (Cabaye 74), Ledley, Campbell (Bamford 60), Gayle. Not used: Speroni, Bolasie, Sako, Puncheon.
Charlton: Pope, Solly, Sarr, Diarra, Fox, Kennedy (Gudmundsson 59), Bergdich, Ba, Cousins (Kashi 68), McAleny (Watt 72), Ahearne-Grant. Not used: Mitov, Bauer, Holmes-Dennis, Lennon. Booked: Diarra, Bergdich. Sent off: Diarra.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick.
Att: 16,576 (2,900 visiting).