Harvey Clare reports on Charlton’s clash against Brighton, which was marked by protests from the Addicks fans.
Yet another protest was met by another loss for Charlton as they were beaten 3-1 by promotion pushing Brighton & Hove Albion.
Jose Riga made four changes to the side which shared a goalless draw with bottom of the league Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday evening. Gudmundsson, Callum Harriott, Alou Diarra and Morgan Fox all returned to the starting XI.
Outside the ground, before the game even started, an estimated 5,000 people surrounded the stadium holding bannners and chanting, ‘Roland out’ and ‘Time to go’.
Seconds into the game, the pitch was assaulted by supporters hurling beach balls, balloons and other inflatable objects onto the grass in protest of Duchatelet’s ownership of the club.
Similar protests occurred at the start of the second half, while the game was also stopped for a short time in the 89th minute after a flare was thrown onto the field.
It’s sad to say, that now, Charlton have had more protests this season than actual league wins.
Birghton took the early lead in the 8th minute after a free kick was played into the Addicks box and headed into the goal by striker, Sam Baldock.
Charlton had a few chances to equalize inside the first half with Portuguese defender Jorge Teixeira heading a set-piece just wide.
Frustrating loss
Ten minutes before the interval the Addicks almost levelled the score after a Johann Gumundsson shot flew just a whisker wide of the bottom right hand goal post and rippled the side netting.
Six minutes into the second half Charlton finally equalized through Gudmundsson. Youth academy starlet, Ademola Lookman did well to break free on the left side of the pitch before feeding Jordan Cousins who squared across the face of goal for Gudmundsson to produce a tidy finish.
Charlton’s joy didn’t last for long as the visitors immediately went about restoring their lead with Jiri Skalak finishing neatly into the top right-hand corner beating the Addicks no.1, Nick Pope.
With the game coming to an end, both teams had a numerous chances, but the Seagulls eventually sealed their victory by getting get a third goal in injury time.
The fourth goal came from the penalty spot where Brighton’s leading goal scorer, Tomer Hemed stepped up to dispatch his spotkick comfortably beating Pope.
Charlton remain 23rd in the league as they face off with 12th place Leeds on Saturday 30th April.