Four takeaways from Charlton’s 2-0 win over Fleetwood Town: Academy graduates shine as Addicks survive slow start to go on and win

Charlton Athletic ended a five-game winless run as second-half goals from academy graduates Mason Burstow and Albie Morgan saw off in-form Fleetwood Town. Here’s Louis Mendez’s four takeaways from the clash at The Valley.

ADDICKS GREW INTO IT

Charlton had to ride out a storm for the opening half-hour until eventually growing into the contest before the break and then winning it after the restart. The Cod Army came flying out of the traps and exploited the space behind Charlton’s advanced wing-backs early on and will feel they should have taken advantage of their early dominance. But Charlton started to exert themselves towards the end of the first-half and took control when Burstow headed them ahead early in the second-period. Fleetwood still carried a threat, especially when Shayden Morris was introduced from the bench. But the South Londoners managed to kill them off when Morgan grabbed the all-important second late on.

MONEY MASE

What a special moment for young Mason Burstow to grab his first home league goal – and in front of the Covered End. He found it tough to make a real impact on the game for large spells, partly because the Addicks as a whole weren’t breaking through a well-organised, deep Fleetwood side. But he found space inside the six-yard box to get on the end of the Addicks favoured set-piece routine – lofting the ball deep for man mountain Ryan Inniss to head into the middle. The goal is Burstow’s 2^nd in just seven EFL appearances – it took Karlan Grant, the last real forward prospect to come through the Charlton academy, 47 appearances to reach that tally. Promising.

MORGAN TAKING HIS CHANCE

Albie featured as one of my takeaways after the draw at Cheltenham as he was one of the few players who came away with any credit from Whaddon Road. The midfielder is now just over a week shy of his 22^ndbirthday, and he will know that this spell in the side could be one of the last chances for him to prove he can make a real impact at The Valley. Johnnie Jackson revealed afterwards that Morgan had been knocking on his door and asking for a another opportunity and will be pleased that he’s made a mark over the last fortnight. And he showed some real character to recover from his dragged effort across the face of goal moments before he fired the Addicks into an unassailable lead inside added-time – another academy product grabbing a first EFL strike in front of the Covered End.

SLOW STARTERS

It had been a slow start from the home side that exposed the fragile confidence they had shown on the ball recently. After Fleetwood’s flurry of early openings, the game stagnating with Charlton allowed as much of the possession as they wanted at the back but struggling to move it between the thirds. That was emphasised by the fact Ryan Inniss saw 61 touches of the ball compared to combined 22 from the front two of Burstow and Chuks Aneke. Jackson said afterwards that he performed a tactical tweak that saw Charlton push onto the front foot late in the first-half but there will still be concern that the first-half was so languid. One of the chief reasons for that may be that Elliot Lee has really struggled to impose himself for quite a while now.

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS