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Charlton Athletic came from two goals down to grab a point in a frenetic 4-4 draw with Rochdale at The Valley.
The Addicks got off to the worst possible start when an unmarked Matty Lund opened the scoring for Rochdale in the 12th minute.
The visitors then doubled their lead in the 21st minute through Kwadwo Baah before Chuks Aneke pulled one back two minutes later.
Baah then scored again to make it 3-1 in the 31st minute before a deflected Jake Forster-Caskey strike in the 37th minute made it 3-2.
But Rochdale regained their two-goal advantage before the interval through Stephen Humphrys – the striker rifling a free-kick into the top corner from 25 yards out.
However, Charlton began the second-half in the ascendancy and were quickly on level terms following an explosive three-minute spell.
First Aneke headed home in the 65th minute before Ronnie Schwartz made it 4-4 just moments later.
And Aneke could have grabbed an unlikely winner late on before Jason Pearce was dismissed for a second booking with Charlton forced to settle for a point in the end.
Key Points
Check out all the key talking points and reaction from London Football Scene below…
Key Moment
Charlton’s fourth goal, Ronnie Schwartz’s first for the club, displayed everything good about this Charlton performance and capped an excellent second-half revival.
Moan of the Match
Conceding four first-half goals was disastrous for Charlton and gave them a mountain to climb to get anything from the game.
Talking Point
Was Charlton’s first-half horror show down to the Addicks’ general inability to defend or more Lee Bowyer getting his tactics wrong by starting forward Paul Smyth as a wingback?
Man of the Match
Chuks Aneke – looked Charlton’s most dangerous player throughout, causing Rochdale constant problems while scoring twice and adding an assist.
Tweet of the Match
Referee Watch
Trevor Ketting (Rutland) – a truly crazy game largely passed him by, but he was determined to make his presence felt by sending off Jason Pearce late on.
Atmosphere
One can only imagine how a packed Valley would have reacted to this seesaw game, but both benches made up for it with constant noise throughout.
Verdict
Charlton showed heart to come from behind to snatch a point, but they urgently need to fix their fragile defence if they are going to challenge for promotion.
