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The lowdown on Charlton 1 Birmingham City 0 – Formation switch helps Addicks bring down League One’s table-topping big spenders

Matty Godden’s second-half goal earned Charlton Athletic maximum points against Birmingham City.

Here is the lowdown on the match.

THE LINE-UPS

Charlton: Mannion, Ramsay, Mitchell, Jones, Docherty (Small 86), Coventry, Docherty, A Campbell (Berry 86), Anderson, Kanu (T Campbell 63), Godden (Aneke 73). Subs not used: Maynard-Brewer, Leaburn, Edmonds-Green.
Birmingham: Allsop, Klarer, Bielik (Davies 46), May (Wright 46), Seung-Ho, Anderson (Hansson 46), Willumsson (Dykes 71), Gardner-Hickman (Sampsted 75), Cochrane, Iwata, Stansfield. Subs not used: Peacock-Farrell, Leonard.

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
What a way to end a three-match losing streak. Birmingham City had won seven successive League One matches but left SE7 with an xG (expected goals) of just 0.15. Alfie May, last season’s Golden Boot winner, was subbed off at the break – by which time Daniel Kanu had one, if not two, excellent chances to ensure the Addicks were ahead. Godden’s fourth goal of the campaign, and third in the league, decided the game as he finished smartly from Josh Edwards’ long throw.

TACTICAL APPROACH
Charlton manager Nathan Jones ditched his three-man central defence to go with a four-four-two which saw a narrow ‘box’ midfield – the excellent Conor Coventry and Greg Docherty deeper with Karoy Anderson and Allan Campbell ahead of that. Much like the win over Bolton Wanderers in August, facing opposition determined to play out from the back allowed the Addicks to press relentlessly and effectively. The Blues became more frazzled as the first half wore on – with Ryan Allsop super fortunate not to gift a goal. Daniel Kanu seemed so shocked that the keeper passed to him inside the penalty box that his first touch let him down and Allsop was able to gratefully drop on the ball.

STAR MAN
Kayne Ramsay. Got to be said that every player – particularly the starters – gave an excellent account of themselves. The fact Docherty and Josh Edwards were cramping up late on told you exactly how much effort had been expended. But Ramsay, effortlessly composed, just dominated down the right side of the backline. Produced seven dribbles – the most of any player – with his trademark surges out of defence.

BEST MOMENT
Matty Godden’s goal. The experienced frontman executed perfectly when the Birmingham defence failed to deal with Edwards’ long throw into the penalty area.

MOAN OF THE MATCH
There isn’t really one, another sign of how well Charlton performed. You could say that Kanu needed to be more clinical but he played well, finishing aside. His running power stretched the Birmingham defence right from the opening minutes when he outpaced Krystian Bielik in a foot race. Today was his 57th appearance for the South Londoners and, at only 19, he is still learning and developing.

A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
An instantly forgettable return for Krystian Bielik to The Valley. The Birmingham captain – who won promotion with Charlton in 2019 while on loan from Arsenal – had to come off at half-time with an ankle injury sustained after Allan Campbell’s meaty challenge. Then it was revealed that Bielik’s recent comments about the big-spending Blues being “too good” for League One played a central role in firing up Charlton’s players before they took to the field. He’s undoubtedly had better days.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“I see the players every single day and we pick a side we feel can win the game. Yeah, sometimes we get let down. Sometimes players let us down. The players absolutely let us down on Tuesday. I took responsibility for that but we bounced back with an absolutely wonderful performance.”

PICTURES: KYLE ANDREWS

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