Charlton 2 (Teixeira 57, Harriott 80) Middlesbrough 0
Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.
It could be a case of too little too late but the renewed spirit which drove Charlton to this important victory over promotion candidates Middlesbrough suggests that the bookies won’t be paying off early on their impending relegation. They might be limping badly but there’s life left in this old dog yet.
On a chilly Sabbath afternoon, during which the football was sometimes secondary to distractions elsewhere, the Addicks were good value for their first home win since Sheffield Wednesday were sent packing on November 7th. The Owls are co-incidentally their next opponents at Hillsborough on Saturday. An unlikely league double is precisely what the club doctor would order.
Keeping their attention firmly fixed on events over which they had no control, Jose Riga’s newly resilient side (seven points from the last nine and two back-to-back clean sheets) took advantage of Boro’s own inter-club issues. Although interim boss Steve Agnew denied that the acrimonious departure of Aitor Karanka less than 24 hours before this mutually vital fixture had affected its result, it was surely a relief, not to mention a welcome novelty, for Charlton to face opposition in even greater disarray than themselves.
It hadn’t seemed quite so promising when Agnew’s teamsheet confirmed that Addicks nemesis Jordan Rhodes would feature in his starting line-up. No favourite of Aranka but scorer of 11 goals in 13 previous games against Charlton, Rhodes was a tempting 5-4 bet to score on Saturday. But apart from one header which wastefully directed Albert Adomah’s perfect cross straight at Nick Pope, he never threatened to justify the odds. Scarcely allowed a touch, he incurred a booking for his niggling obstruction of Pope before departing hang-dog on 74 minutes, unwittingly joining a pre-planned walk-out of home fans with different motives for prematurely quitting the scene.
The peripheral incidents, meanwhile, had begun at kick-off, with the carefully orchestrated release of black-and-white beach balls, which caused a four-minute delay before the pitch was cleared. Minutes later, a phantom whistler in the North Stand brought the action to a standstill as the players reacted obediently. Referee Darren Deadman handled the crisis by patiently demonstrating, unlike Basil Fawlty who befuddled his guests by stressing the barely detectable musical differences between the burglar and fire alarms, that his whistle was clearly two octaves higher than the interloper’s. The crowd did its bit by cheerfully reminding everyone that it’s always wise anyway to play to the whistle.
A mundane first half ground on, enlivened by the various off-pitch antics but featuring little in the way of positive action from sides with vastly differing agendas. Encouraged by a battling captain’s performance from Jordan Cousins, the Addicks had the better of what little action there was. Continuing his recent improvement in form, Johann Berg Gudmundsson tested Dimi Konstantopoulos with a raking low drive while Callum Harriott, paired upfront with Ademola Lookman in a partnership long on nimbleness but short on height, drove narrowly over the bar.
Responding for the visitors, attacking left back George Friend’s awkward cross was expertly cushioned back to Pope by Jorge Teixeira, his cool defensive example hardly emulated by Rod Fanni, who almost marred an otherwise excellent contribution with an own goal when Emilio Nsue’s hard-driven centre cannoned off him but was repelled by Pope’s wonderfully instinctive reflexes.
Twelve minutes after the break, Charlton grabbed a not altogether unexpected lead. Gudmundsson’s outswinging left wing corner, earned by Cousins’ fiercely deflected shot, was headed down and in by Teixeira. The Portuguese’s first goal for the club reversed the worrying trend of conceding themselves from setpieces.
Beaten only once in three games since being recalled, Pope protected the lead by reacting sharply to keep out Adomah’s long-distance potshot, was relieved to watch the same player’s powerful drive clear his bar by inches, then twisted athletically to touch Gaston Ramirez’s treacherously swerving free kick over the top.
With the Teesiders improving, a second goal was required to finish them off; ten minutes from the end, Harriott popped up to provide the necessary insurance. Set up by Gudmundsson from the left byline, the busy marksman’s first shot was blocked. Pouncing on the rebound, his follow-up effort was drilled ruthlessly into the bottom right corner. The booking he incurred for jubilantly removing his shirt seemed worth it.
Reports of Charlton’s demise, it seems, are greatly exaggerated, despite the moving cortege which had escorted their symbolic corpse from Charlton Liberal Club to The Valley before the game. Tagging along in hopes of a rousing wake, it was a bit deflating to discover there were no nibbles or wine on offer. Only kidding, of course, because Charlton’s remarkable fans showed yet again on Saturday, that while increasing the pressure on the club’s ownership, their backing of their beloved side never wavered. Team not regime, that’s been the watchword.
Charlton: Pope, Motta, Teixeira, Fanni, Fox, Gudmundsson (Lennon 90), Cousins, Diarra, Suk-Young, Lookman (Ghoochannejhad 78), Harriott (Bergdich 88). Not used: Mitov, Holmes-Dennis, Johnson, Poyet. Booked: Fox, Diarra, Harriott.
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Gibson, Fry, Clayton, Friend, Leadbitter, Ramirez, Downing (Nugent 74), Nsue, Adomah, Rhodes (Stuani 74). Not used: Agazzi, De Laet, De Sart, Kalas, Forshaw. Booked: Layton, Rhodes.
Referee: Darren Deadman. Att: 14,636 (2,342 visiting).