WALSALL 0 CHARLTON 2
Attendance: 3,719 (328 Charlton)Walsall Roberts, Leahy, Dobson (C), Guthrie, Devlin, Cook, Ginnelly (Ronan, 85), Ferrier, Gordon (Ismail, 75), Osbourne (Kinsella, h/t), Martin.Charlton Steer; Solly, Bielik, Pearce, Sarr; Cullen (Lapslie, 80), Pratley, Aribo, Fosu (Marshall, 82); Vetokele (Grant 34), Taylor
Summary
Back to back victories propel Charlton back into the play-off positions. A solid and comfortable victory for Charlton on the road as Lyle Taylor (a surprise inclusion of strong suggestions from Bowyer he was to be rested, gave Charlton an early lead from the penalty spot. Bielik doubled the lead in the second half and the victory was never in doubt from then on in. Not everything was positive though; the injury run continued with both Vetokele and Cullen dislocating shoulders.
Post Match comments
Bowyer:
“It was very good. Another professional performance from us. It gets us back to where we have been in the past. It’s a tough league and you come here and they don’t drop many points at home, especially when they’ve lost, they don’t often lose the next one. I’m really proud of the lads, I’ve just told them that’s what our standards are on a Tuesday night in tough conditions and the way we fought and battled and, especially in the first half, the way we played going forward, we could have had three or four at half time.”
“We made four changes and they all stepped in. (Darren) Pratley in the middle of the park - outstanding. Naby (Sarr) left back, obviously we know he’s uncomfortable out there but brilliant. We had Tariqe (Fosu) outstanding, I think that’s the best game he’s played this season. Igor (Vetokele), it’s unlucky you know. He looked good as well up until he got injured.”
“Our back four and Jed (Steer) I thought were outstanding. When Jed needed to be called upon he was called upon. Our back four defended the box. Our two centre-halves won every header. Our midfield dominated the game and our front two do what they do. They work hard out of possession and cause problems going the other way. The perfect team performance I thought.”
STATBANK Player Marks
Cullen = 8.00
Bielik = 7.71
Pearce = 7.26
Taylor = 7.23
Aribo = 7.14
Pratley = 7.10
Sarr = 6.98
Fosu = 6.88
Steer = 6.86
Solly = 6.55
Grant = 6.36
Vetokele = 5.93
Team Average = 7.00
At the game...
@The31YearMan : Well deserved win, 6pts in 3 days and now 6th. Even when Walsall briefly threatened midway through the 2nd half, my positive state of mind was saying we were conserving energy and exercising good game management.
In the early stages, Charlton were moving the ball around well with no particular clear cut chances to talk of until the good save from Roberts off Aribo that was part of the passage of play that led to the penalty.
We continued with good approach play with Walsall carrying very little threat in attack.Grant had that great chance at the end of a half that Cullen excelled in.
Moving into the 2nd period, the home fans were getting agitated with their team. Then we produced the killer blow with Taylor being very clever to get the corner which led to Bielik's goal.
I felt now they could only get back into this with a set piece and for a while we encouraged them by giving away a series of free kicks. To be honest, the game as a spectacle dropped. Cullen before he went off was making blocks and clearances. Then we had that moment where Steer made a very good save to keep us on course.
We rode out the last 10 min plus injury time with good possession based football. Well done the lads, management and fans.
Matchday Links
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HERE(Photo credit: Kyle Andrews on twitter)
Comments
Don't worry, Boss .... I'll let you start the Match Thread in future.
I can't risk getting in trouble again.
Just make sure you've put it up before the teams are announced - or you know what will happen!