1 min
Charlton Athletic failed to ease their Championship relegation fears with a 1-0 defeat to Reading courtesy of George Puscas’ third minute penalty.
The visitors started the brighter and broke into the box following a lovely one-two between John Swift and Andy Rinomhota with Deji Oshilaja clumsily fouling the latter.
Puscas made no mistake from the spot with Reading continuing to dictate the early proceedings, comfortably dealing with any Charlton threat.
However, Lee Bowyer’s side performed better after the drinks break and should have been level when Chuks Aneke’s close range strike was wrongly judged offside after Reading keeper Rafael parried Aiden McGeady’s initial effort.
The second-half saw the Addicks dominate without any real penetration, and their luck was still not in when Jake Forster-Caskey’s penalty appeals were waved away late on – despite the Reading defender appearing to man handle him.
Charlton continued to push for a late equaliser but failed to create much, with the Royals comfortably seeing the game out.
Key Points
Check out all the key talking points and reaction from London Football Scene below…
Key Moment
Chuks Aneke’s wrongly disallowed goal would have put the Addicks level which may have seen them go on to take a point, or even all three.
Moan of the Match
Key decisions not going Charlton’s way could prove costly – not just in the context of this game but the season as a whole.
Talking Point
Two major decisions went against Charlton today – would VAR be a welcome addition to the Championship?
Man of the Match
Tom McIntyre – the Reading academy graduate was excellent in defence all game as the away side kept a clean sheet at The Valley.
Tweet of the Match
Referee Watch
Darren Bond (Lancashire) – managed the game well and hard to blame for two big decisions going against Charlton when they were prime examples of the benefits of technology.
Atmosphere
No crowd noise was played at The Valley, though the passion from both sides could be clearly heard throughout.
Verdict
Without Lyle Taylor Charlton have to create more chances and they simply didn’t offer enough, although they can feel hard done by with two decisions going against them.
