Charlton beaten by late blow (From This Is Local London)

Charlton beaten by late blow

9:59am Monday 16th April 2007 in Charlton Match Reports

Everton 2 v 1 Charlton Athletic

Barclays Premiership

Report by Gary Haines

CHARLTON saw their six-match unbeaten end come to an end in a dramatic finale at Goodison Park.

Alan Pardew's men looked set for a point after Darren Bent's last-minute leveller cancelled out Joleon Lescott's opener.

But the Toffees landed a sucker punch two minutes into injury time when substitute James McFadden crashed home a winner from the edge of the box.

The game had exploded into life in the closing stages with Lescott bundling home from close range to seemingly secure the points with just nine minutes remaining.

It ended Charlton's resolute defensive run at exactly nine hours but for the visitors it was a hammer blow after they had looked the team most likely to grab the points.

After soaking up plenty of pressure in the first half, Charlton begun to assume the upper hand in the final half hour and Bent and Zheng Zhi twice went close to giving them the lead.

Their stout defending was eventually breached at the end but far from throwing in the towel, the visitors charged up the other end and saw Bent reward their fine efforts with a fine leveller for his 13th goal of the season.

But there was heartbreak at the death, however, as McFadden volleyed home in some style.

Consigned back into the relegation zone on Saturday, Charlton were aiming to clamber clear of danger at Goodison Park this afternoon.

The Addicks saw Sheffield United jump above them after a 3-0 win against West Ham yesterday and Pardew made three changes ahead of the Toffees test.

Ben Thatcher was back on the left of defence with Hermann Hreidarsson's innocent collision with Luke Young last week aggravating his niggling knee injury.

Marcus Bent, also injured in the opening half hour against Reading, missed out on a return to his former club and Jerome Thomas was also sidelined by a knee injury so the visitors opted for a five man midfield which included Amdy Faye and the returning Bryan Hughes.

Hughes had not featured for the Addicks since picking up an injury from the bench at Manchester United on February 10.

A boyhood Evertonian, he was looking to dent his old heroes' UEFA Cup aspirations after getting the nod ahead of Matt Holland in a Charlton side unbeaten in six games and unbreached at the back for seven hours and nine minutes.

Zheng's purposeful burst took him into the Everton box with less than a minute on the clock but the run was eventually halted.

Then, Souleymane Diawara's mistake in the Charlton rearguard offered the Toffees the first opening in the fifth minute but Andy Johnson could not take full advantage.

It was clear from the early stages Zheng was operating at the hole behind top scorer Darren Bent with Hughes starting on the right of midfield.

Osman was wide in the 14th minute and the midfielder came far closer four minutes later when his effort from the opposite flank took a deflection - possibly off El Karkouri - before flying just wide with Scott Carson stranded.

Hughes got ahead of Johnson for an important header at the resultant corner and when a Mikel Arteta free-kick was half headed clear Lee Carsley smacked a volley narrowly off target.

Bent was wayward at an Addicks corner - so much so the ball actually crossed the halfway line and ended up in his own half - and it was all rather edgy.

Lescott was getting forward well from left-back for the hosts and it was from his fine cross Beattie warmed the hands of Carson in the 26th minute.

The visitors were struggling to get a foothold in the game and El Karkouri's clumsy high challenge on Johnson in the 33rd minute offered the Toffees a free-kick in a dangerous position.

With the visitors waiting for a curler from Arteta the Spaniard cleverly rolled a disguised pass to the left and suddenly Osman was in space on the edge of the six-yard-box.

But the midfielder's curling effort turned out to be neither a cross nor a shot as it flew over Johnson and Beattie in the box and dropped harmlessly wide.

Osman saw another effort charged down by one of his own players in a packed goalmouth while a long clearance from the visitors saw Bent get beyond Howard but Joseph Yobo, in turn, got ahead of the striker to concede a corner.

Howard saved routinely from Bent after collecting a Zheng pass on the edge of the box while some sloppy play from the hosts - whose fans were starting to voice their frustrations - saw Zheng offered another run through which again was held up.

That was that for the first half with the Addicks backline now six minutes shy of an eight-hour milestone.

Thatcher foiled Arteta and El Karkouri did similarly to Johnson as the eight hour mark was safely passed.

Osman's effort 10 minutes in scarcely troubled Carson before Pardew replaced Faye with Matt Holland.

Charlton's best chance of the game arrived two minutes later as Song fed the ball through for Bent and the striker's shot from the edge of the box beat a diving Howard but bobbled narrowly wide of the keeper's left hand upright.

Beattie headed off target for the hosts and was then cheered off by his own fans when being replaced by James McFadden on 59 minutes.

Gary Naysmith replaced Alan Stubbs two minutes later and the hosts had penalty appeals waved away by Mark Halsey after the newcomer collided with El Karkouri.

Charlton then fashioned two decent openings in as many minutes.

First, Bent was sent clean through only for Tony Hibbert to get across and make a goal-saving challenge at the expense of the corner.

Then, from Ambrose's flag-kick the ball was headed across goal and landed at the feet of Zheng just a couple of yards out.

Perhaps caught by surprise, the midfielder could not get any sufficient contact on the ball and Howard gleefully plunged to save.

It was further evidence Charlton's hard work could well pay off at the business end of the pitch and the home fans were quiet as Johnson placed a header well off target midway through the half.

Charlton then went close again - with two near misses in as many minutes 14 minutes from time.

Zheng was the first to try his luck with a fierce dipping drive that grazed the bar on its way inches over and then Bent got into a shooting position on the right edge of the box and arrowed a low effort fractions wide.

Thatcher picked up the game's first yellow card 12 minutes from time for persistent fouling while Johnson's glancing header from an Arteta free-kick flew wide.

Charlton were looking the side most likely at this stage but it was Everton who supplied a hammer blow nine minutes from time as they went in front.

It was impossible not to feel sympathy for Carson and his rearguard as a flighted Arteta cross was headed out to McFadden on the edge of the box.

He looped the ball back into the dangerzone and Johnson's goalbound prod was brilliantly turned away by Carson.

Sadly for the visitors the ball dropped to a blue shirt with Lescott ideally placed to turn the ball home from close in.

Pardew responded by sending on Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Madjid Bougherra for Hughes and Thatcher and Bougherra picked up a yellow card a minute later after flattening Arteta.

The Spaniard quickly made way for Anderson de Silva but it was Charlton who drew level a minute from time.

A hoisted high ball was headed on by Holland and fell to Bent.

The striker still had plenty to do but veered away from two defenders before drilling a low shot into the bottom left corner.

It was all the visitors deserved - but they saw a valuable point snatched away two minutes into injury time.

An equally hopeful high ball was headed out by Bougherra and the Algerian hurtled towards the second ball.

McFadden got their first and lofted the ball over the onrushing defender and crashed a superb volley into the bottom right corner.

The Addicks pushed forward manfully but there was no way back.

The unbeaten run is over and Pardew's men remain in the dropzone ahead of next week's massive game with Sheffield United.

MATCH FACT:

CHARLTON: Carson, Young, Thatcher (Bougherra, 84), Diawara, El Karkouri, Ambrose, Song, Faye (Holland, 55), Hughes (Hasselbaink, 84), Zheng, D Bent.

SUBS NOT USED: Randolph, Rommedahl.

ATT: 34,028.