Charlton put paid to Palace's recent surge up the table with a comprehensive 2-0 victory at The Valley on Friday. The match was hotly anticipated by both sets of fans after the recent resurgence of both teams, although the game turned out to be a one-sided affair.
2 second-half goals from Luke Varney sent the home crowd into delirium, and the overall performance of the team was magnificent – possibly the best display I've seen since the 4-0 demolition of West Ham.
Pardew kept the same shape as in previous games, and opted for a front pairing of Gray and Varney. The midfield stayed the same, and Greg Halford made his debut at right-back in the place of Viewtoakill.
Charlton dominated the early passages of play, and although Palace seemed to win a lot in the air, the passing and movement of the Addicks created numerous opportunities to break the deadlock.
A neat turn from Halford almost presented the opener, but he dragged his shot wide. Zheng Zhi had a shot saved spectacularly by Speroni after a flowing move, and Varney rattled the post from a tight angle. Throughout this passage of play, Palace had created nothing – the Charlton back-four were on great form, and the intelligent distribution was a joy to watch.
Warnock clearly had words with his players at half-time, as Palace looked a different side for the first ten minutes of a telling second half. Our midfield suddenly looked shaky, and a few needless corners were conceded. Youga also made an excellent last-ditch challenge to prevent a one-on-one with Weaver.
Charlton gradually got themselves back into the game, and once again appeared to be the side most likely to break the deadlock.
The opener finally came from a free kick. Gray's deft flick fell into the path of the advancing Varney, who managed to touch the ball past Speroni under pressure from the last defender. 1-0, and The Valley exploded.
Thankfully the home side didn't try to sit on the goal, and continued to press forward to finish off the tie. Varney had a good penalty shout turned down as he was tugged back in the area, but in fairness this cancelled out what looked like an earlier handball from Bougherra in the Charlton box.
Varney was also clattered by Hudson with a horrible looking two-footed challenge, which amazingly went unpunished by the referee. Varney was to have the last laugh though as he settled the match 4 minutes from time.
A pass from Holland release the striker down the wing, who then opted to run at the Palace defence rather than square to substitute Iwelumo. His decision paid off as he rifled his shot into the goal, ironically via Hudson, and wrote his name into Charlton history.
It really was a great performance all round – Youga was rock-solid, Bougherra and McCarthy bossed the back-line, and Halford made an impressive debut. He's not as fast as Viewtoakill, but his long throw is fantastic and he looks to have both a good footballing brain and an eye for a pass.
On this evidence, a great signing Pards – we've now got a back-four brimming with confidence, and perhaps with the possibly harsh exception of McCarthy, a defence that are confident in passing and moving the ball rather than taking the obvious hoof.
Holland and Zhi put in another great display in the middle of the pitch as well, Zhi's performance being particularly impressive considering his midweek game in Dubai. If there are any criticisms to be made, Sam wasn't on his best form, and Ambrose was guilty of giving the ball away far too much.
Up front, Gray didn't have the biggest of impacts – aside from the first goal, the partnership with Varney will need more time as they understand each other's games. Varney of course was excellent, and I was happy to see him be both greedy and ruthless for his second – at this level, we simply need to get the ball in the net.
Sadly, I need to knock some marks off myself for being so late with this match report – I'm currently sitting in a pub in Soho at Sunday lunchtime trying to find somewhere with a wi-fi connection after a ridiculously busy week!
Anyway – hats off to Pards and the team. I made the walk back to the Dome and home to North London a very happy man on Friday night. The results may not have gone our way yesterday, but we're still only 5 points off the action.
A win against Sheffield Wednesday could really put the shakes on the teams above us – let's hope the players can carry the momentum into what should be a tricky, but winnable, away tie.
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