The lowdown on Shrewsbury Town 0 Charlton Athletic 1 – Gassan Ahadme breaks duck as Addicks continue fine start with untidy victory
Charlton continued their excellent start to the season with a narrow win at Croud Meadow.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
Shrewsbury Town: Savin, Benning, J. Feeney, M. Feeney, Hoole, Ojo, Winchester (Marquis 81), Sagoe Jr (Bloxham 73), Castledine (Shipley 80), Gilliead, Lloyd. Subs not used: Nsiala, O’Reilly, Perry, Young.
Charlton Athletic: Mannion, Gillesphey, Jones, Mitchell, Small, Berry (A. Campbell 73), Coventry, Docherty, Ramsay, T. Campbell (Godden 73), Ahadme (Kanu 72). Subs not used: Aneke, Maynard-Brewer, Potts, Watson.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
A horrible game to watch, as gritty as they come but Charlton found a way to take all three points back to South London thanks to Gassan Ahadme’s first Addicks goal early in the second-period.
TACTICAL APPROACH
We only really got a glimpse of how Nathan Jones wanted his side to approach this game in the early stages of each half. The Addicks imposed themselves on Salop in the opening exchanges but that good start seemed to just…stop. Paul Hurst’s side wrestled control after 15 minutes and would have led before the break if they could finish their dinner – Chelsea loanee Leo Castledine denied from close-range twice.
But Charlton came out strong after the interval and edged ahead through a set-piece – Lloyd Jones nodding across for Ahadme to bundle in. Shrews still carried a threat as the second-half wore on but the South Londoners were able to hold on to a fourth clean sheet in six games. 80 per cent of the shut outs they kept last season achieved already. Which reflects as badly on last year as it does favourably on this term.
STAR MAN
Conor Coventry. Not the first time I’ve given him this award this season and he goes about his business quietly. Looks to protect the back-three and kept things ticking over.
BEST MOMENT
A first goal for the Gasman. Everyone, apart from Lloyd Jones who was still telling me it was his goal after the game, was delighted to see Ahadme bundle home the first goal of his season.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
It’s still not the rip-roaring, free-flowing football from the Addicks that you’d like to see. Chances were few and far between. But Nathan Jones has admitted that he knows there is room for improvement.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
Have Charlton mastered the art of winning ugly? Shrewsbury away is always a dog of a game and the Addicks had only taken maximum points on one of their last four visits. Away wins were particularly hard to come by last term. But the Addicks have already edged narrow 1-0 triumphs at Wigan and now Salop in tight games that could have gone either way.
There’s a risk involved – you won’t always get a favourable drop of the ball in these tight affairs, but four shutouts already suggests that this Addicks side have learned how to navigate some of these knife-edge games much better than they did last year. Six or seven scrappy 1-0 away wins this campaign will do their promotion hopes no harm at all.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“We’ve got to make sure when we don’t play well that we do get things from the game. To win a game away from home, that shows. 13 points after six games, you’d have taken that all day long.
“When you don’t play well, when you play like that you’ve got to win and we did. That’s the positive.”
PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS