Charlton Athletic 1-0 Accrington Stanley: Added-time penalty wins fiery affair for Addicks

Karlan Grant’s added-time penalty clinched three points for Charlton after a feisty affair at The Valley.

Both the Addicks and their visitors Accrington Stanley ended with ten men apiece after Stanley goalkeeper Jonny Maxted and home striker Lyle Taylor were dismissed in the closing stages.

But there was still time for Grant to grab his 14^thgoal of the campaign from the spot three minutes beyond the ninety.

Stanley, making their first-ever visit to The Valley, came out of the blocks quicker than their hosts and came close in the opening stages through Billy Kee. Callum Johnson had strolled forward from right-back and his drive found its way to the striker, who was unable to adjust his feet enough to divert the ball at the target.

Accrington’s only other away game at Charlton before today came in 1924 at The Mount in Catford, and they soon looked to mount another attack as Sean McConville took aim from 25 yards, though his effort flew high and wide.

Lee Bowyer’s side took a while to grow into the contest but burst into life as Lyle Taylor broke away down the right on 13 minutes. His teasing low-cross looked destined to be converted as Karlan Grant and Ben Purrington queued up at the far-post but goalkeeper Jonny Maxted managed to get his fingertips onto it and deflect it away from the Addicks pair.

The game slumbered towards the interval but luckily Phillips was awake just before the break to close down Luke Armstrong as the ball fell to him six yards out. The Addicks stopper blocked well, but returned to the dressing room with his teammates yet to muster a shot on target.

The hosts needed to up the pace after the break and seemed to found that next gear as Taylor twice caused issues down the Accrington left.

The frontman saw another low-cross plucked off the toes of Grant by Maxted, before being denied himself after wriggling free at shooting from a tight angle.

A first big chance finally arrived just before the hour-mark for the South Londoners. Grant floated a cross over and left-back Ben Purrington, on his home debut, arrived at the far-post only to see his header clawed out by Maxted.

Phillips was called into action again at the other end, tipping Kee’s header over as Stanley’s top-scorer met Liam Gibson’s deep cross.

The Addicks were running out of time but came agonisingly close to opener with fifteen minutes left as Taylor’s shot took a nick off a defender, wrongfooting the goalkeeper but dribbling just the wrong side of the near-post.

Grant then dragged a shot across the face of goal before the game descended into chaos with ten minutes left. Krystian Bielik headed a corner home but referee David Rock spotted an infringement and ruled it out. A brawl soon erupted in the six-yard box, which led to the dismissals of both Maxted and Taylor.

The drama wasn’t over. Ben Reeves’ cross struck a Stanley hand, and after deliberation with his assistant, the referee pointed to the spot. Grant had to wait for the Accrington protests to die down but eventually he scored to eek three points out of the game for the Addicks.