Charlton Athletic vs Luton Town FC (22nd Feb 2020)

CHARLTON ATHLETIC 3-1 LUTON TOWN

Cornick scores but Town are beaten at The Valley

The Hatters' winning run was brought to end at The Valley this afternoon as Charlton Athletic ran out 3-1 victors.

A double from Lyle Taylor either side of Harry Cornick’s equaliser, and a late goal from George Lapslie, saw the Town slip back to the bottom of the Championship table, six points from safety, after two successive wins had lifted them within sight of safety.

Graeme Jones made three changes to his starting line-up with James Bree, Glen Rea and Harry Cornick returning in place of Martin Cranie and injured duo Sonny Bradley and Kazenga LuaLua. Izzy Brown missed out through illness.

The opening exchanges were tightly contested on the pitch, while off it both sets of fans produced a wonderful moment with a perioud of applause around the eighth minute for Ethan Matthews, the young Hatters supporter who sadly lost his battle with cancer on Wednesday, aged eight. Charlton deserve huge respect for sharing an image of Ethan on their big screen as the tribute rang out with all corners of The Valley also singing his name.

In the 13th minute, Charlton were inches away from taking the lead. Erhun Oztumer crossed into the box, Naby Sarr touched it down and volleyed towards goal, but his effort cannoned off the bar.

Luke Berry went close for the Hatters, but a slight deflection took his effort just wide of the goal and behind for a corner.

The hosts went close through Alfie Doughty, before Taylor put Charlton ahead in the 34th minute. On the half turn he fired right-footed low across goal and past Simon Sluga.

Just two minutes later, Town got back on level terms through Cornick. James Bree and Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu linked up well down the right, the latter crossed and the attempted clearance went straight to Cornick, who arrowed his shot into the bottom corner for his eighth goal of the campaign - the same tally he amassed in the whole of last season.

The Addicks were looking for a quick start to the second period and almost got exactly that, but Taylor’s cross into the box was put wide by Andre Green.

In the 51st minute, Ryan Tunnicliffe stole possession in midfield and played a neat pass down the line for Cornick to run on to. The forward raced through on goal and squared it across the box for Collins, who slid the ball into the back of the net before the linesman lifted his flag and it was ruled out.

Charlton regained their lead just after the hour mark, when substitute Lapslie’s shot from the edge of the box hit Collins’ arm. Taylor took responsibility from the spot and found the the back of the net.

The hosts were searching for a third goal shortly after but Tunnicliffe managed to produce a vital block to deny Josh Cullen from close range, as Taylor’s cross came all the way through to him at the back post.

Town continued to create chances themselves as substitute George Moncur went close from distance, but his effort was tipped over by Phillips.

However, in the latter stages of the game, Lapslie turned in fellow substitute Macauley Bonne’s cross to give the Addicks all three points.

The Hatters will quickly look to put defeat behind them and are back in action on Tuesday night when they welcome Brentford to Kenilworth Road.

CHARLTON: Phillips, Matthews, Lockyer, Sarr, Oshilaja (Lapslie 56), Doughty, Davis, Cullen, Oztumer (Bonne 79), Green (Pearce 88), Taylor (C) Subs not used: Amos, McGeady, Smith, Hemed,

Goals: Taylor (34, 61), Lapslie (88)

Yellows: Oshilaja, Taylor

TOWN: Sluga, Bree (Bolton 82), Pearson, Carter-Vickers, Potts, Rea (Moncur 70), Tunnicliffe, Mpanzu, Berry, Cornick (McManaman 70), Collins (C) Subs not used: Stech, Cranie, Shinnie, Hylton.

Goals: Cornick (36)

Yellows: Tunnicliffe, Rea, Pearson

Referee: Andre Marriner

Attendance: 18,969 (2,785 away fans)

GRAEME JONES ON THE DEFEAT TO CHARLTON ATHLETIC

Hatters boss Graeme Jones felt that James Collins’ offside goal was wrongly chalked off and was the turning point in the 2-1 defeat to Charlton this afternoon.

Having gone 1-0 down from Lyle Taylor’s low effort, Harry Cornick equalised immediately after. Collins converted from the former Bournemouth forward’s cross to seemingly make it 2-1 in the second half, only for the linesman to rule it out for offside.

Taylor would go onto score from the penalty spot, before George Lapslie grabbed a third to seal the win.

Jones said: “I’ve got no complaints with the lads, the big moment in the game was our offside goal which we’ve looked at and it wasn’t. They are huge decisions and it was given against Luton again which I don’t like, because at 2-1 you’re in the ascendency and then Collo obviously gives a silly penalty away, we’re chasing the game, take Glen off to try and get an extra attacker on the pitch and we concede a third goal.

“That was the story of the day, no complaints with the players in terms of effort and having the temperament to play but the game today, if there was ever a game that swung on a big decision, that was it.

“We’re in a really good moment, I think if we had gone 2-1 up we understand how to control football matches.

We would have probably fallen back into pattern like we had against Middlesbrough last week where we controlled the game on and off the ball and I would have been very, very confident at 2-1.

“The first two goals for them are two mistakes from us and the game swings on one moment. We’ve scored two goals from open play today and they’re legitimate, call it luck or judgement or whatever you want, they need to go your way.

“Everybody needs to take responsibility, I’ve known Andre (Marriner) for years and the linesman are Premier League officials and my disappointment is we got a huge decision wrong.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2EccNSMv6Q – Graeme Jones interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YYp8bz3a1o – match highlights

Luton back at the bottom after losing to Charlton

Championship: Charlton Athletic 3 Luton Town 1

Luton's mini-revival was brought to a disappointing end this afternoon as they were beaten 3-1 by fellow relegation rivals Charlton Athletic.

Going into the contest, the Town had won their last two games, keeping clean sheets in the process to breathe real life into their hopes of staying in the Championship.

However, they were brought back down to earth at the Valley in a second half that saw the Addicks score twice to triumph, Luton dropping back to the bottom, nine points behind their hosts, six from safety too.

The visitors' selection was hit with injury and illness , as Izzy Brown, Kazenga LuaLua and Sonny Bradley were ruled out, while keeper James Shea was replaced on the bench by Marek Stech after fracturing his finger in training.

That meant Glen Rea, Harry Cornick and James Bree were restored to the starting line-up, as striker James Collins wore the captain's armband.

Town made a decent enough start, looking to have settled well into the encounter, but it was the hosts who were inches away from taking a 14th minute lead, Naby Sarr left unmarked in the area from a short corner routine to hammer his effort against the underside of the bar.

Luton had cries for a penalty shortly afterwards, when Luke Berry went over in the area under a challenge from Tom Lockyer, but referee Andre Marriner was unimpressed, waving away the appeals.

The midfielder then went closest for Town on 20 minutes as Dan Potts read a crossfield pass to set up a counter, which saw Berry's deflected 20-yarder drop narrowly wide.

Visiting stopper Simon Sluga was called upon to palm Alfie Doughty's rasping attempt behind after he had skinned full back Bree, as the defender quickly redeemed himself when Erhun Oztumer fed Lyle Taylor, impeccably tracking Charlton's prolific front man and saving the corner too.

Town were behind on 34 minutes though when the visitors looked to have cleared the danger, only to turn possession over softly in their own half, Collins' pass out defence cut out.

There was still plenty for Taylor to do though and he did it superbly, flicking past the visitors' defence and arrowing his angled drive beyond Sluga.

Hatters were behind for barely a minute though, as they worked it down the right, with Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu's cross cleared only as far as Cornick who kept his cool to sidefoot into the bottom corner for his eighth goal of the season.

After the break, the Addicks should have been back in front just three minutes in when Taylor turned provider this time, his excellent low cross met by Andre Green, who could only slide wide from a matter of yards.

Town had a terrific opening themselves when Tunnicliffe did superbly to win the ball back and feed Cornick, who sped into the area, his cross-shot which looked on its way in, turned over the line by Collins, only to see the linesman's flag immediately raised to rule the goal out for offside.

Back came Athletic as the game began to open up, Erhun Oztumer skying a decent opening from Green's left wing delivery.

They then had the lead on the hour when a short corner was worked to sub George Lapslie whose blast was blocked by the arm of Collins inside the area, official Marriner whistling for a penalty, confidently dispatched by the right boot of Taylor.

Tunnicliffe made a vital block to prevent Josh Cullen's close range volley from flying in for a third.

Town boss Graeme Jones made a double change with 20 minutes to go, George Moncur and Callum McManaman on for Cornick and Rea, Moncur almost equalising after dummying his way past two players, only to see keeper Dillon Phillips tip his curling shot behind.

Town's last throw of the dice saw Luke Bolton on for Bree as Moncur dragged wide from outside the box this time, with McManaman slicing over from far closer in.

It was game over with three to go though, Lapslie, who had a real impact on the game in his 35 minutes on the pitch, escaping Town's defence to prod home from close range.

McManaman's late snap shot cannoned into an arm, Marriner giving nothing on this occasion, while Moncur's wayward attempt from distance flew harmlessly wide to sum up Town's frustrating second half display.

Addicks: Dillon Phillips, Adam Matthews, Deji Oshilaja (George Lapslie 55) Tom Lockyer, Lyle Taylor ©, Andre Green (Jason Pearce 88), Naby Sarr, Josh Cullen, David Davis, Erhun Oztumer (Macauley Bonne 78), Alfie Doughty.

Subs not used: Ben Amos, Aiden McGeady, Matt Smith, Tomer Hemed.

Hatters: Simon Sluga, James Bree (Luke Bolton 82), Dan Potts, Matty Pearson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Glen Rea (George Moncur 69), Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Luke Berry, Harry Cornick (Callum McManaman 69), James Collins (C).

Subs not used: Marek Stech, Danny Hylton, Andrew Shinnie, Martin Cranie.

Booked: Tunnicliffe 26, Oshilaja 44, Taylor 76, Pearson 84.

Referee: Andre Marriner.

Attendance: 18,969 (2,785 Hatters).

Jones: Officials got it wrong over disallowed goal

Town chief frustrated as Luton are denied a 'legitimate' second at Charlton

Luton boss Graeme Jones was bitterly frustrated that his side were denied a clear-cut second goal during their 3-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic this afternoon.

Early in the second half, forward James Collins slid home Harry Cornick’s cross-shot to make it 2-1 to the visitors, only to see the strike ruled out by a linesman’s flag.

The TV evidence has shown that Collins was level with the Addicks defence when Cornick unleashed his effort, making the call even tougher for Jones to swallow, as he then saw the hosts score twice more to claim a crucial 3-1 win.

Jones said: “I’ve got no complaints with the lads, the big moment of the game was our ‘offside’ goal.

“We’ve looked at it and it wasn’t, they’re huge decisions, it was given against little Luton again, which I don’t like, as 2-1 you’re in the ascendancy.

“I’ve got no complaints from the players in terms of effort and having the temperament to play, but the game today, if ever there was a game that swung on a big decision, that was it.

“We’re in a really good moment.

"If we’d have gone 2-1 up, we understand how to control football matches, and we’d have probably fallen back into a pattern like we had at Middlesbrough last week, where we controlled the game off and on the ball.

“I would have been very confident at 2-1, as we hauled ourselves back in the game, the first two goals for them are two mistakes for us and the game swings on one moment.

“We’ve scored two goals from open play today and they’re legitimate.

“Call it luck or judgement, or whatever you want, they need to go your way, but everybody needs to take responsibility.

“I’ve known Andre (Marriner, the referee) for years and the linesmen, they’re Premier League officials, my disappointment is they've got a huge decision wrong.”

Having watched it back after the contest, Jones, who was without Izzy Brown, Kazenga LuaLua, Sonny Bradley and James Shea for the match, continued: “The footage I've looked at it he’s onside when it leaves Harry’s foot, he's behind the defender, and the ball’s in the back of the net, so I can't do a lot about that.

“What I can do a lot about is patterns of play, attitude, performance, having that mentality, to come into their back yard, coping with the occasion, I thought we were fantastic.

“We played some good stuff, we’re starting to get a real consistency performances and a look about us which satisfies me.

“We lost three players before the game, which again is another variable that has been difficult, so I've got no complaints.

“It’s two silly mistakes for the first two goals, but even then we should have been 2-1 in the lead.

“The pivotal moment is our goal, we’ve done nothing wrong, we've done nothing wrong in the game, that goal changes the dynamics.”

When asked whether he felt Collins needed to touch Cornick’s shot in the first place, Jones said: “For me, it might have hit the post, it was either going in or hitting the post, but James is a striker, he’s a predator.

“He works for that every day in training, that’s not the point, he was onside.”

Attacker Cornick was also left highly disgruntled that the goal for his team-mate was rubbed out, saying: “I'm going to say it was post and going out, he's always there to tap them in.

“That’s what he does regularly for the team, hes always there to score those goals, if that goes in, and that counts, we could go on to win the game.

“So it’s just unfortunate really and I’m just gutted for him as another goal would be nice.

“I haven't seen it back, linesmen make mistakes, sometimes they go for you and sometimes they don’t.

“We didn't get the rub of the green today with the officiating, sometimes we’ll get that, sometimes we won't, so I can't really comment too much on that.”

Collins was then involved at the other end for the second Charlton goal which did count, handling George Lapslie’s drive, allowing Lyle Taylor to double his tally from the spot.

Jones added: “It’s a penalty, James has held his hands up after the game.

“James Collins is such an aggressive, big heart, want to win for the team type of player, maybe it just slipped over a little bit, a little bit too anxious to get out there..

“Obviously you've got to keep your hands down, he’s a striker helping out, so that’s the only disappointment really in that.

"But we should have been 2-1 up and it's a very, very different situation.”