Charlton manager Lee Bowyer was left “proud” of his players after the Addicks made it four wins on the spin by beating Oxford United 2-0 at The Valley on Tuesday night.
Conor Washington opened the scoring for the hosts in the 32nd minute, latching onto an Andrew Shinnie through-ball before finishing confidently. Shinnie then turned from provider to scorer on the stroke of half-time when he curled a free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Cruising
Seemingly cruising, the game took a turn with 25 minutes left to play when Ryan Inniss was sent off for a second bookable offense. Despite going down to 10 men, Charlton held out fairly comfortably to make it 12 points out of 12 and record their fifth consecutive clean sheet.
“I thought it was a real good team performance from start to finish,” Bowyer said after the match. “They had a bit more possession but they didn’t really hurt us.
“I think we managed the game really well once we went down to 10 men. I’m really really proud of them. I felt quite comfortable (after going down to 10 men)…they didn’t really threaten our goal.
‘Stick together’
“The number one thing I demand is togetherness. To stick together and fight like they did at the end…I love seeing that. That fighting spirit takes you a long way. It makes me excited for the rest of the season.”
After a tumultuous start to the campaign both on and off the pitch, Charlton finally seem back on track under the stewardship of new owner Thomas Sandgaard. The victory against Oxford pushed Charlton up to sixth in the League One table, their highest placement since the start of the season.
Bowyer’s side head to Fratton Park on Saturday for a crucial early-season promotion clash with fifth-placed Portsmouth. The challenge will be made sterner by the absences of Inniss as well as Ben Watson who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Oxford, triggering a one-match suspension.
