League leaders Portsmouth went for the throat and put the early pressure on, but Charlton managed to keep the opponents at bay. After a nervous first ten minutes, Charlton began to settle into shape, and both Alfie  May and Tyreece Campbel had shots from good positions.
 
However, Abu Camara put Portsmouth in front after 30 minutes with a spectacular volley from the edge of the box after a corner. A wonder goal with his weaker foot, which makes you wonder how good the Norwich loanee's stronger foot is.
 
After that, Portsmouth didn't look back,they took control of the game and came close to a second, but Maynard-Brewer pulled off an excellent save from close range. With Portsmouth on the ascendancy, Charlton were happy to get to the interval to regroup.

However, Pompey's confidence and quality continued to shine through after the break, and John Mousinho's men, unbeaten in the league since March, controlled the game comfortably and looked increasingly threatening. Charlton struggled to find their attacking players in good positions, and Leaburn, Campbell and Blackett-Taylor too often found themselves more or less isolated. Portsmouth kept knocking on the door and hit the bar twice, while Maynard-Brewer had to pull off a string of top-class saves to keep Charlton in the game.

But Charlton were still in it, and even though the attacking play didn't quite click, May nearly found an equaliser when chasing down goalkeeper Norris. Charlton could also have had a penalty after a shot deflected into the arm of a Portsmouth defender on the edge of the box.

Scott Fraser replaced Tyreece Campbell after 66 minutes, and five minutes later, Charlton were level! Leaburn dropped down to the halfway line to receive the ball, and managed to release Louie Watson, who combined outstandingly with May. The League One Player of the Month for October received the ball coming into the box, and smashed the ball past Norris at the near post. Not assuring goalkeeping, but a well worked goal for the Addicks to make it 1-1.

However, Portsmouth have shown their never-say-die attitude on several occasions this season, and four minutes later, they got a penalty. A hot-headed Maynard-Brewer, who had kept Charlton in the game up until this point, inexplicably rushed off his line and fouled Paddy Lane on the edge of the box. Bishop converted the penalty with ease.

Somwhat uncharacteristically, Charlton were able to mobilise some fighting spirit of their own after a set-back like this. The last phase of the game was end-to-end stuff, as both teams lost most of their shape. Portsmouth missed an absolute sitter from point blank range after Hector failed to clear a low cross from the left.

Asiimwe and McGrandles replaced the Watsons, and that would prove to be decisive. In the 94th minute, Fraser found Edun in a central position. The left back put in a cross to McGrandles, who managed to head the ball towards goal, and Norris once again found himself helplessly beaten at the near post. Right after, Blackett-Taylor got a good chance, but the really memorable heart-in-mouth moment came in the very last seconds of the game, when a defensive cock-up let Dobson roam into the box unchallenged. While considering his options, the captain had a bad touch which squandered a fantastic opportunity to claim an epic win.

The Addicks faithful should not be to disappointed, though. If we look at stats, Portsmouth had an xG of 2.30, against Charlton's xG of 0.61. The home fans will without a doubt see this as two points dropped, but still the game was by no means one-way traffic. More than anything, these xG stats show that Charlton struggle to match the right pass with the right move too often in promising attacking positions. 

Today, I think Louie Watson and Tayo Edun played really well and deserve praise. Still, despite giving away a penalty in a moment of madness, Ashley Maynard-Brewer was by far Charlton's man of the match. He had at least three or four excellent saves that kept Charlton in the game. Steve Brown pointed out in the Charlton TV studio that if the teams had swapped keepers today, Charlton would have been beaten by three or four goals, and it's hard to disagree with him. Alan Curbishley, on the other hand, pointed out that it was after all an even game, and despite the stats telling us otherwise, Charlton did stand up for themselves against the top side of the division. 

Hopefully, the international break and a kinder run of fixtures will help to cement the team, and gradually we will see a development that gives both more defensive solidity and more fluent attacking play in the last third. Charlton are after today's game in 11th place, five points behind the playoffs. Thankfully, there is still all to play for.  
 

Artikeln skriven av Jørgen Sørbø, 2023-11-11, 21:00