Happy Ending

There was a certain justice in Charlton’s last gasp winner against Aston Villa. It brought Alan Pardew’s side a much needed win which they had been denied against Fulham by one of the worst decisions from a linesman in the history of the Premiership.

Once again they had to come from behind, after Gareth Barry converted a justifiable 38th minute penalty and there were times when defensive frailties – especially a failure to close down quickly and a tendency to leave their full backs exposed to two attackers on crosses – threatened to give Villa the opportunity to punish them further. But they also came close themselves on several occasions, before El Karkouri’s long through ball enabled Darren Bent to run behind Melberg and head into the far corner in the 56th minute.

Even after Gareth Barry’s dismissal three minutes later, there were chances for both sides to win the game. Villa had the best of theirs in the 88th minute, when he flicked the ball narrowly wide from Gavin McCann’s astute through ball, and just two minutes later substitute Bryan Hughes nipped in with a near post header to grab the points and give Charlton hope.