Charlton 1-0 Man City: A Tale of Two Keepers
Posted by The Addickted in Charlton, Iain Dowie, Man City | 5 November 2006
Charlton managed to keep another clean sheet just by the skin of their teeth in a game where a desceptive amount of chances were created by both sides, only to be cancelled out by superb goalkeeping.
A fairly scrappy opening to the game resulted in a lack of real dominance by either side, but Charlton held the majority of possession and created a couple of half-chances. Manchester City however looked ever dangerous on set pieces and a barrage of corners, whipped in by Joey Barton were only denied by some off the line clearances by Luke Young and clearances by Talal "Borat" El Karkouri.
The breakthrough came when a clearance fell to Jerome Thomas on the byline. He made himself a yard and curled in the perfect ball to Darren Bent, who guided the ball into the far corner with his head from between two defenders. The tempo was then raised, both teams had spells of pressure for the remainder of the second half but it was City that looked the better team going in at half time, forcing a magnificent save by Carson against Samaras.
As the second half prepared to kick off, City keeper Nicky Weaver made his way over to the "Covered End", who remembering the grief he gave them several years ago, hurled a barrage of abuse at him for the ensuing 20 minutes. Charlton started the second half brightly and the combination of acting support striker Andy Reid and Darren Bent created some great chances, but outstanding saves by Weaver kept City in the game.
The final quarter of an hour consisted of pure Manchester City pressure and only good defending and yet another tremendous save from Scott Carson, this time repelling Corradi, kept the Addicks in front. The defining moment of the game in my eyes was 5 minutes from time, Hatem Trabelsi picked up the ball on the edge of the box and struck a left footed shot, beating Scott Carson for the first time, but was denied by the inside of the post and Carson picked up the loose ball. This is the point where most must have accepted that it was just Charlton's day, and after the match Stuart Pearce rightly bemoaned his side's failure to convert chances as they certainly deserved a point.
In general, a good day for Iain Dowie, who saw his side keep their 4th consecutive clean sheet and side begin to build a bit of momentum.
I can't wait for Chesterfield away!
