If only- If only we had played like this at the beginning of the season we would be 10 points clear by now. A great all round team performance and patience is definitely a virtue as the players and the fans needed an abundance of it last night. Great support all night and Pardew acknowledged it several times in this pulsating game. All the players deserve at least a 7 out of 10 rating and many deserve more. The statistics will surely show 70% to 30% possession rating in Charlton's favour as they dominated without punishing Stoke at the final hurdle, but thank goodness justice was done in the end. Don't get me wrong Stoke are a good physical Championship team but lack class which showed on the pitch and on another night they may well of snatched a point which they clearly came for with their early match time wasting. This Charlton team are the youngest I can ever remember and great team spirit is very evident . This match was massive for us and the after the final whistle blew Pardew jumped in the air and the players ran to Weaver to congratulate him, as a few minutes earlier he had made a fantastic instinctive save from Fuller at point blank range. A big credit due to the goalkeeper and the back four who stood defiant against a very physical Stoke team. If there is any criticism, we tried to walk the ball into the net with very clever play instead of having a shot when in good positions.
Weaver 8 For long periods of the game was idle but when called upon made two great saves in the second half.
Youga 8 What a player very confident a real find
Bougherra 8 Great game and rose to the challenge
Moutaoakill 8 Another great young player with bags of potential
McCarthy 9 Really settling down now and he could prove to be Pardews best buy
Sam 8 Tricky Dicky with the ball and gave the Stoke defenders a hard time
Holland 9 Along with McCarthy my man of the match -ran his socks off and his distribution was spot on.
Zhi 7 Good game but not at his best-Unlucky when his shot hit the post in the first half
Ambrose 7 Again a steady performance and looks more up for the challenge
Gray 7 Will take time to settle but will fill the Tordorov role very well. Missed a couple of good chances
Iwelumo 7 Tries and tries and won quite a few balls in the air
Subs
Varney 8 His pace made all the difference
Thomas 8 Held the ball up well when needed -He has so much class but does not always use his head.
Semondo 7 Must be hard for him as he is out of favour
3 comments:
CN,can we talk about the Premiereship yet ?
Good fun last night wasn't it? And the players seemed as pleased as us at the finish. That level of performance, with more clinical finishing, would get us up. We just have to keep that going and cope with the inevitable injuries and suspensions.
Rick its taboo until we lift the Championship trophy in May-Heck I've blown in already.
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