Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.
POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic v Oxford Utd: Saturday 20th December 2025: KO 15:00
LoOkOuT
Posts: 10,936
Oxford visit the Valley on a poor run, with the Addicks playing host to the strugglers, sitting in a relegation spot, after a poor run of our own. The question was whether Charlton had managed to reverse course enough after last week’s singular point. To make the most of it, the home side were looking for all three points and anything less would be a bit of blow heading into the Christmas period. Rob Apter came into the starting eleven, with Charlie Kelman returning from injury on the bench.
The first half was scrappy with both sides having the odd opportunity or two. Tanto Olaofe was through on goal after about 36 minutes and tested the keeper at near enough point blank range, but really should have scored. Sonny Carey’s follow up went just wide when he couldn’t adjust his body quick enough to do better. On 46 minutes, it was Carey again who’s mazy run ended in a decent shot that the keeper did well to save. The half ended without score.
The second half started slowly. The sky had darkened considerably and the atmosphere was a bit flat. But it was the home side that eventually got to grips with the match and began to dominate. It wasn’t until Tyreece Campbell came on that Charlton truly threatened. Near enough his first touch resulted in a shot that went inches wide. It was Tyreece that combined with Charlie Kelman with about fifteen minutes of normal time remaining, putting the striker into the box for a wonderful first touch that bought him enough space to whip a low shot past the Oxford keeper and into the back of the net.
The remainder of the match was tense, though Charlton managed Oxford for the most part without too much hassle. Of note, Youngster Keenan Gough made his debut with a solid ten minutes to see out the win.
You don’t need a university degree to know how important this result would be. Come five o’clock, this one was academic.
Charlton 1 Oxford Utd. 0
Over to you.
34
Comments
-
Never been so happy after a 1-0 win, great Kelman goal set up beautifully by TC, and what a game Leaburn had, was everywhere and my MOTM. looking forward to Boxing day already...
Time for firing up HMS FA I think...36 -
Huge win!Now a healthy 8 points from relegation.21
-
As close to 6th as we are 22nd and with a game in hand. We are a mid table team and I love it45
-
What an effort by Leaburn... keep that going! And great finish Charlie38
-
Kelman off the mark again will do his confidence wonders. And TC having the impact again. Would have liked a bit of a goal cushion to ease the nerves, but a wins a win! Merry Christmas!29
-
The performance was brilliant. A huge effort from every player, no big errors and a few good chances created. Kelman with a great finish, Leaburn imperious in the air, TC terrified them into making changes, Bree and Ramsay looked back to their best and Gough gets a winning Championship debut. Merry Christmas Addicks21
-
Solid first half performance with some glimpses of quality, aggressive second half, late goal, success. Classic Nathan Jones performance. I like that I never really feel like we'll concede a late equaliser when we score after 70-odd minutes. Partly that's because we usually score on about 90+15 but still, we can hold a lead in these circumstances. The big difference today was that we could bring Kelman on to have a moment of class as well as TC when previously we weren't able to change enough in an attacking sense. Now we just have to pray that Ramsay is ok as his backup isn't exactly reliable fitness-wise. Huge win and two big games coming up11
-
Couldn’t make it today but delighted with 3 points. Probably the most important win of the season so far.4
-
The guns, they've taken a break... But today they're firing loud, and proud...Do you know why, of course you know why... Because Oxford... You've... Been... SUNK!!
38 -
Kelman's finish for someone who has been out for two months is remarkable, and what we've been sorely lacking.
Great work from TC to find him who has been fantastic off the bench again, unlucky not to score himself with the shot almost straight off the bench. Think it says a lot about his trust in Kelman with that pass.
Whilst not involved in the goal, special mentions deserved for Anderson and Apter who continue to be a breath of fresh air. Apter at LWB gave a lot of balance, having someone who is comfortable on his left foot there, and having a threat on each side meant Bree looked better today too.
Doc looks better off the bench, Coventry had his best game in a while.
Inevitable response will be 'but it's only Oxford' - a year ago it was only Northampton. Lets enjoy good performances pro-Christmas, and build from here.
55 -
Sponsored links:
-
Clear to me we are a better side when we play two forwards centrally and have the width provided by the wingbacks. Too often this year the center forward has been too isolated.20
-
That Kelman finish is so good. A player low on confidence wouldn’t be scoring that.Excellent from Leaburn today. Played that target man role to near perfection. Just needs to be a bit more consistent with his passing.Back line all superb. Ramsay especially.As for Oxford, I can’t see them staying up based on that showing. Very limited side who played deep against us (which is completely the wrong way to approach us). I don’t know if they have any injuries, but if we had Edwards and Bell fit I think it would’ve been 2/3-027
-
The 3 points are worth so much ! Gap to relegation increases, confidence builds. With the importance of that game in terms of pressure it was a fantastic performance. Leaburn my MOM he was everywhere today. Kelman will be pleased to carry on where he left off.13
-
Big win8
-
Whilst I've been critical in recent weeks, that was much much better from Leaburn too. Impossible to fault his effort today, much more involved at both ends of the pitch.12
-
What was the goal celebration all about?
wasn’t sure what they were trying to mime / act?2 -
Best performance from leaburn by far, felt at points they were terrified of him. More of that please.Kelman is really a cut above, great link up play and movement, gives us another dimension going forward and his finish was effortless.13
-
Looks stunning with a new coat of paint, after being stuck in dry dock for a month of repairs.ForeverAddickted said:The guns, they've taken a break... But today they're firing loud, and proud... Do you know why, of course you know why... Because Oxford... You've... Been... SUNK!!18 -
Was always going to be nervy. No doubt Jones and the players knew exactly how big a game this actually was. In all honesty anything other than a win would have us very nervously looking over our shoulders. Let’s hope the “bad” run is over and as we get more players back we’ll start the points ticking over again. I’ll be very happy to finish mid table but to move us on to something more we’ll need an upgrade in midfield and up front.6
-
Not a single away win today in the Championship.
Seeing as Pompey, Norwich, Oxford and the Spanners were all away from home.
We've had worse days Rodders.13 -
Sponsored links:
-
Spent last hour doing kid drops and shopping pick ups, only getting bits and bobs and radio 5. Sorry to people crossing road at red light when I screamed get the fuck in at them!11
-
Enormous win. Leaburn won more headers in that first half than he has in his whole career and really looked like his old self with the tenacity and skill. Ramsay likewise has found his confidence again.
Anderson is a long way from perfect but I can’t believe how much better he’s looking in the Championship than League One - he brings a balance that we haven’t had recently. Massive respect to Apter as well who was on the wrong side in the wrong position but fought extremely hard and once again just feels like a much more balanced option to start off with before bringing on TC. Felt like a big moment for Kelman to kick on from and I’m looking forward to what he can do going forward.
The win really is all that matters but my god did we make it more difficult than it needed to be. Not sure I’ve felt less assured of us holding on for a win under Jones and any decent team beats us I think. Just got to keep scraping these points until we can get more quality in as it’s desperately needed.15 -
We needed that!
Overall, that was a pretty good performance against a poor Oxford side. Defence was sound all game and good to see Bree back to his best after a few average performances.
As others have said, Leaburn's best game for ages. But Olaofe - he's keen and runs about but his finishing is woeful.
But what a difference it makes when we can bring on 2 class forwards. If Kelman can carry on scoring goals like that one, we have got a class act on our hands. And good as Campbell was, I'd still keep him as an impact sub for the next few games.
Final word to Rob Apter. A pretty faultless performance in an unfamiliar left wing back role. Big shout out to him for putting that sort of performance in in a vital game.26 -
Get further injuries back, along with a few reinforcements and am confident that we'll start to really climb away from dangerEven prior to Kelman coming on, and we really looked back to our old selves, but just needed that extra bit of quality to put a finish away - Shame really for Tanto, as there were a couple of efforts that you suspect that Charlie could have put away... But we've shown before with Strikers that one bad match doesnt really define them.Leaburn really showed his quality as well, and what he could possibly do at this level, really good way to bounce back after that mis at Birmingham last week, and if he got MoTM it was fully deserved. Shame to have lost Ramsay, the only negative of the match, but equally a massive shout out to Rob Apter, perhaps the penny is finally dropping, and he just potentially needed more time under Jones' wing, but for a player that concerned the majority of the fanbase at LWB today, I thought he was nothing short of excellent.18
-
Few Oxford fans are getting a bit fed up with Gary Rowett. He's even being likened to the great Karl Robinson in his post match assessments.1
-
I just noticed NJ booked at the end0
-
Can understand their frustrations to be honest. They've drawn a decent amount, and unlike us have at least, over the last few months, picked up some sort of result for the most part... It was what worried me the most today, but they just looked so toothlessKarim_myBagheri said:Few Oxford fans are getting a bit fed up with Gary Rowett. He's even being likened to the great Karl Robinson in his post match assessments.7 -
Leaburn was excellent14
-
Took him until the 70th minute to realise they’d have more luck attacking Gillesphey and Apter than Ramsay and Bree. Baffling.Karim_myBagheri said:Few Oxford fans are getting a bit fed up with Gary Rowett. He's even being likened to the great Karl Robinson in his post match assessments.7 -
Didnt sub their Defender who was being terrorised by Apter, the moment we got TC on eitherSmithy said:
Took him until the 70th minute to realise they’d have more luck attacking Gillesphey and Apter than Ramsay and Bree. Baffling.Karim_myBagheri said:Few Oxford fans are getting a bit fed up with Gary Rowett. He's even being likened to the great Karl Robinson in his post match assessments.1
