Charlton Slump As Protests Continue

Addicks’ fans expressed their anger again after yet another defeat, as Harvey Clare reports.

Another protest, another loss for Charlton Athletic, as they lost 3-1 to promotion-pushing Brighton & Hove Albion

Outside the ground before the game started, an estimated 5,000 people surrounded the stadium chanting ‘Roland out’ and ‘Time to go’ whilst also holding up banners and posters of the same message.

Seconds into the game, The Valley pitch was pelted with beach balls, balloons and other inflatable objects, thrown by fans onto the pitch in protest at Duchatelet’s ownership of the club.

Similar protests occurred at the start of the second half, while the game was also halted for a short time in the 89th minute after a flare was thrown onto the field.

Protests

It’s sad to say, that now, Charlton have had more protests this season than actual league wins.

Once the pitch was cleared and ball finally started rolling, it wasn’t long until the visitors took the lead.

Jose Riga had made four changes to the team which shared a goalless draw with bottom-of-the-league Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday evening, with Johann Gudmundsson, Callum Harriott, Alou Diarra and Morgan Fox all returning to the starting XI, but to little positive impact.

With eight minutes on the clock, a Brighton free-kick into the box saw the ball played back across the face of goal where striker Sam Baldock headed the Seagulls into the lead.

Charlton had a few chances to equalize inside the first half with Portuguese defender Jorge Teixeira heading a set-piece just wide.

The Addicks had another good chance 10 minutes before the break was when Gudmundsson’s sizzling shot aimed towards the bottom right-hand corner flew just inches past the post and rippled the side netting.

Tidy

Six minutes into the second half Charlton deservedly 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 though, as the visitors immediately went about restoring their lead with Jiri Skalak finishing neatly into the top right-hand corner from the angle, beating Addicks’ no.1 Nick Pope.

With the game drawing to an end, both teams had a plethora of chances but the Seagulls eventually sealed the win by getting get a third goal in injury time.

It came from the penalty spot when 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 next weekend.

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