Charlton continued their unbeaten start to life back in the Championship last night – but not in the way they hoped.
Lyle Taylor’s bullet of a header gave the Addicks the advantage in an excellent first half performance, but Albert Adomah’s strike from a corner meant the points were shared, leaving several Charlton fans frustrated as the three points should have been ours.
Lee Bowyer made four changes to his side, handing summer signings Sam Field and Erhun Oztumer their league debuts. Naby Sarr replaced Jason Pearce at centre half and Deji Oshilaja filled in for the injured Chris Solly at right back.
The opening 45 minutes was the best first half display I’ve seen in years. Right from the start Lee Bowyer’s men were in control, with Jonathan Leko’s effort coming off the post from Oztumer’s corner, before falling back to the ‘Turkish Messi’ who swung in an inviting cross for Tom Lockyer, who headed just over.
Charlton continued to knock on the door with some outstanding play. Conor Gallagher’s sixth minute shot was saved by Arijanet Muric and Leko’s follow up was desperately blocked.
They took the lead in the 18th minute when Leko’s cross was met by Lyle Taylor, who smashed home a brilliant header in a 22 pass move, giving the Addicks a 1-0 lead and Taylor’s fourth goal in as many games.
Nottingham Forest could have had an equalizer right at the end of the half, when a shot was deflected into Lewis Grabban’s path, who looked certain to score. Lockyer denied the striker with an unbelievable last-ditch tackle, keeping Charlton ahead at the break.
The second half saw the Addicks come back a lot more, but still breezed through Forest’s defense with some scintillating football. Their best chance of the half saw Deji Oshilaja loft a cheeky pass towards Taylor, who used great feet to pull it back to Leko, only for him to sky it over the bar.
After Bowyer made two substitutions on a defensive corner, Forest got their equalizer with a substitute of their own. Albert Adomah’s powerful strike from close range made it all square in the 78th minute.
Both teams were gunning for the three points, with Jonny Williams having the best chance to win the game, when his cross gave Muric a scare when it struck the front of the crossbar. Ultimately, Charlton had to settle for a point.
Tyler’s Take
Despite it being a good result, I was left frustrated when walking out of The Valley. For me it was two points dropped, we should have killed the game off in the first half with the chances we had and the dominance we showed.
Bowyer tactically got it wrong when he made a double substitution of a defensive corner. Perhaps this is a learning curve for the Charlton boss.
There are a lot of positives to take from this: a first half performance last that will mean that the confidence will still be beaming and the spirits will be high. Remaining unbeaten is the complete opposite of what many fans predicted, so we are still proving people wrong this season. There was also some standout performances, in particular Oshilaja, Oztumer and Lockyer, who were an absolute nightmare for Lamouchi and his Forest side.
An exceptional performance but a disappointing result. We march onto Brentford on Saturday.