The lowdown on Charlton Athletic 1 Blackpool 2 – Addicks slip to first home defeat as changes don’t pay off
Charlton were beaten at home in the league for the first time since February as Blackpool took all three points at The Valley.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
Charlton Athletic: Mannion, Small (T. Campbell 37), Ramsay, Gillesphey, Jones, Edmonds-Green, Coventry, Docherty (Berry 64), A. Campbell (Anderson 64), Ahadme (Aneke 70), Kanu (Godden 70). Subs not used: Maynard-Brewer, Potts.
Blackpool: Tyrer, Gabriel (Pennington 55), Offiah, Husband, Casey, Evans, Morgan (Coulson 85), Hamilton, Apter (Carey 85), Joseph (Rhodes 76), Ballard (Beesley 76). Subs not used: O’Donnell, Embleton.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
The Tangerines established a two-goal lead before the break as Gassan Ahadme put through his own net and Albie Morgan returned to haunt his former side. Charlton rallied in the final 20 minutes and reduced the deficit six minutes into 12 added on through Luke Berry – but it wasn’t enough.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Nathan Jones made tactical calls before the game to bring Rarmani Edmonds-Green in for Alex Mitchell at the back and Daniel Kanu for Tyreece Campbell up top. Allan Campbell was also given his full league debut in midfield. But Blackpool pressed the Addicks aggressively from the off and made light work of breaking through the structured shape Charlton had built their early season success upon. The two goals led to Jones switching formation, with Thierry Small hooked to accommodate Tyreece Campbell in a 4-2-3-1.
The Tangerines mastered the dark art of time-wasting after the break, aided by a referee who seemed intent of stopping the game for the softest of fouls every 15 seconds. Chuks Aneke’s arrival off the bench 20 minutes from time did provide some impetus for the South Londoners who started to create chances – but other than Berry’s late consolation they were unable to make them count.
STAR MAN
Tyreece Campbell. Featured in a wider role and looked the most likely to create something out of nothing in a display that for too long lacked spark.
BEST MOMENT
Will Mannion’s double save at 0-0. He would have seen Kyle Joseph’s flick-on late through a crowd of bodies, but it clawed it out. He then repelled Olly Casey’s close-range rebound. A close second for star man.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
There’s time wasting and then there’s what Blackpool did today. And they had referee Charles Breakspear in the palm of their hands – he blew up for every little brush.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
Other than Conor Coventry, who has started the season well, Charlton simply have to find a way to get their midfielders involved. Greg Docherty and Luke Berry have both been bypassed too often this season and there’s a real inability to create some fluidity in the middle of the park. Jones tried to switch it up today by awarding Allan Campbell his first league start but he looked so far off the pace that you can only assume he isn’t fully fit yet. Jones will know that his side have to be able to control games better – especially on days like today where their structured resilience seemed to have gone out of the window.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“Really frustrating. Frustrated with our first-half performance. Blackpool were excellent and we weren’t aggressive. We were passive and allowed them to hit us on transition so much because of how passive we were. Then frustration in the second-half because we didn’t demonstrate enough quality. Frustration that we didn’t get two penalties and frustration with how the game was in the second-half as the game became farcical.”