Lee Bowyer hopes late leveller at QPR is sign that Charlton’s luck is about to change
BY LOUIS MENDEZ
Lee Bowyer hopes Charlton’s luck may be about to change after Naby Sarr’s 95th-minute strike bagged a late point at QPR.
The hosts looked set for all three points as Marc Pugh restored their lead from close range with twenty minutes left of the London derby at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
Lyle Taylor had already cancelled out Geoff Cameron’s early opener but Mark Warburton’s side were on course for the win until Sarr capitalised on Cameron’s misplaced header to slot beyond Joe Lumley in added-time.
“Maybe that bit of change of luck,” said Bowyer, who had twice seen his side concede goals in added-time in the last two outings.
“How the ball fell to Naby there, a couple of things went our way. They should have probably cleared it and it ended up going into Naby’s path. Naby has half bounced it into the goal. Hopefully that’s the bit of luck that we needed and things start going our way now. Of late, a lot of things haven’t been going our way.
“That was the least we deserved. The amount of chances we created in the last twenty minutes of the first-half and most of the second-half. We created a hell of a lot of chances, on another day we should win the game comfortably. In the end, you have to dig deep. Like I’ve said many times, this group will keep going and fighting until the end. Today, we got that reward. If we’d had lost that game it would have been another tough one to take for me.
“[Sarr] is a good finisher, I’ve said that many times. He’s one of the better finishers at the club. In the small-sided games in training, he scores every day. He can finish.
“Defensively, we have to improve,” added Bowyer.
“Two poor goals again today. We can’t keep conceding two goals. We have to be better at that. The first goal was poor, Naby just had to put his foot through it and clear his lines. There’s no nice way of doing that, just put your foot through it.
“The second one, the fella just tapped it in from five yards out, a free shot. We don’t get those chances. How many times did Alfie Doughty get in the position today, whacking it across and they clear it. We don’t get tap ins. We have to start defending better.”
Youngster Doughty came back into Bowyer’s starting line-up on the left of the midfield and his boss was very pleased with what he saw.
“I thought he was outstanding,” he said.
“He was ill and the start of the week. He was off. Missed last week’s game and didn’t start training until Tuesday or Thursday. The energy he showed, up and down. Everything was positive from hum, getting to the byline and winning corners at worst. He should have shot a few more times. These are chances that with experience these kids learn and score more goals.”
PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS