Tyreece Campbell came off the bench to grab an 81st-minute winner for Charlton Athletic as the Addicks edged out Stoke at The Valley to pull away from the Championship relegation zone.
Campbell's winner moved Nathan Jones' side seven points clear of danger as Stoke's winless run was extended to six games.
The visitors had their chances but it was Campbell's cool finish after Ashley Phillips was left flat-footed by Lyndon Dykes' flick-on which settled the contest.
It was a sweet victory for Nathan Jones who had ten months in charge at Stoke in 2019, and he milked the moment with his energetic celebrations leading to an on-field confrontation with Potters coach Ryan Shawcross.
Charlton made the early running, almost taking the lead in the sixth minute when defender Harry Clarke hit the crossbar with a powerful header from a corner.
Stoke defender Phillips was then forced to clear desperately with his head from Dykes' lob and Lloyd Jones missed another good chance.
However Stoke came into the game more as the half wore on with the dangerous Jesurun Rak-Sakyi striking the bar against his former club after being put in by Lamine Cisse.
Charlton were also fortunate not to concede a penalty in the 29th minute when Sorba Thomas' cross from the left struck the arm of Liverpool loanee Luke Chambers but referee Anthony Backhouse remained unmoved.
Thomas was a constant thorn in Charlton's side down the left but Stoke's frontline failed to get on the end of a series of inviting crosses, much to the frustration of the Wales international.
Instead it was the home side who grasped the moment with a route-one winner. Campbell, on for Matty Godden who was withdrawn after an hour, raced through to score after Dykes had nodded on Thomas Kaminski's goal kick to score the decisive goal.
Charlton remain 18th on goal difference behind Sheffield United and Norwich also on 39 points.
Avatar Desmond from Deal commented: 'I was hoping that Jones would be the second manager in London to get his P45 today, but once again he has got lucky.'
Nathan Jones said: "I thought we deserved it. I had a feeling about TC (Tyreece Campbell) tonight after last Friday night's game where I didn't feel he was at it. I gave him a little bit of a chat and I just had a feeling about him tonight.
"If he realises how good he is and gets his mental side of everything right, then the kid can go all the way.
"He moves like a Premier League player. How he controls things, how he shifts, how he runs - he has all the physical attributes to be that. It's just up to us to bring that together."
No comments:
Post a Comment