Written By Tyler Rowlinson
Charlton crash out of Carabao Cup on penalties to Forest Green.
Last night saw Lee Bowyer’s Charlton Athletic suffer defeat in the opening round of the Carabao Cup to League Two opposition Forest Green Rovers, playing out a 0-0 draw but lost 5-3 on penalties, with Albie Morgan missing his spot-kick for The Addicks, while Rovers converted all five of theirs.
The line-up saw Ben Amos starting in between the sticks for the first time this season, with youth prospects Brendan Wiredu and Alfie Doughty starting in the defence alongside Naby Sarr and Deji Oshilaja. Sam Field made his debut after signing on loan from West Brom, with Jake Forster-Caskey, George Lapslie and Albie Morgan completing the midfield. Summer signings Chuks Aneke and Macauley Bonne also got their first starts for Charlton in the attack.
A fairly uneventful first half saw the home side struggle to get forward fast enough and break down Forest Green’s defence. Their best chance of the half saw Naby Sarr’s powerful shot saved remarkably by Joe Wollacott, with Sam Field’s rebound being blocked.
The visitors controlled possession early on with Charlton making a couple defensive errors, but fortunately led to nothing. The first half ended goalless, with both teams showing promise of a goal.
The second half saw Charlton enjoying most of the possession, but again struggled to get shots off and find the back of the net. Jake Forster-Caskey’s low driven cross towards Chuks Aneke was deflected for a corner, with Deji Oshilaja heading over the bar.
A brilliant run from Sarr into the penalty area resulted in a spot-kick for The Addicks after he was chopped down by a defender. Forster-Caskey stepped up, but Wollacott guessed the right way and saved his weak shot, keeping the contest deadlocked.
Moments later, Ben Amos was forced into a superb stop from Forest Green’s attacker, showing signs of improvement following an underwhelming pre-season.
This Carabao Cup opener ended a 0-0 draw, with the tie now heading to a penalty shootout. Charlton’s previous penalty shootout saw them defeat Doncaster Rovers 4-3 to earn a spot at Wembley.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t replicate that success against The Green’s, as Albie Morgan struck the post with his penalty, allowing the visitors to take a 3-2 advantage. Despite Deji Oshilaja cooly dispatching his spot-kick, it wasn’t enough as Forest Green scored all five of their penalties, sending them into Round Two against Bournemouth, whereas Charlton were eliminated in the opening round for the second year running.
Despite this fairly disappointing and unappealing result, it’s not something Charlton fans should be worried or really care about. Although it’s nice to have a cup run, we can now have 100% focus on the league.
It was a good opportunity for the young lads to have a run about, some of them impressing like Alfie Doughty. Sam Field failed to get many minutes in pre-season with West Brom, hence the average display from him last night. It is clear that he and the likes of Macauley Bonne, Albie Morgan and Brendan Wiredu need more game time, with Lee Bowyer looking to loan out Albie, Alfie and Brendan.
I personally don’t care about the result as it means nothing to us. We can now focus on the Championship and continue to prove people wrong.