Charlton Athletic vs Huddersfield Town. Sky Bet Championship.
The ValleyAttendance13,488.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at The Valley
Tuesday 10 December 2019 23:40, UK
Matty Daly came off the bench to seal a dramatic stoppage-time 1-0 victory for Huddersfield at Championship rivals Charlton.
The Terriers substitute struck with virtually the last kick of a largely forgettable encounter to boost their own survival hopes and deepen the gloom gathering over Charlton, who are now winless in nine games and sliding down the table alarmingly.
The game was delayed by 10 minutes after Huddersfield's team bus got stuck in the London traffic.
The lethargic visitors were almost caught out early on by Jonathan Leko's trickery, although the Charlton attacker's delivery was caught by Terriers keeper Kamil Grabara.
Dillon Phillips was called into action at the other end to deal with Josh Koroma's well-struck half volley from outside of the box moments before Alfie Doughty fired wildly off target for the hosts after getting himself into a good position.
Phillips' blushes were spared when his headed clearance went straight to Koroma, who was eventually bustled off the ball by Charlton's defence.
The Addicks keeper did well to push behind Steve Mounie's angled effort, with Christopher Schindler heading over from the resulting 20th-minute corner.
Chris Solly made a crucial challenge on returning former Charlton favourite Karlan Grant with half an hour gone just as the striker was about to shoot.
And Huddersfield's current top scorer should have done a lot better two minutes before the interval, squandering a great chance to silence the Valley boo-boys by firing over from six yards after being picked out by Koroma.
Phillips reacted well to thwart Grant again just after the break, getting down low to save his low angled drive.
The home keeper came to the rescue again after 53 minutes to deny Koroma as Huddersfield's impressive start to the second half continued.
Mounie headed inches wide after rising high to meet Grant's corner just after the hour but Charlton were still in contention and a good attacking move from the hosts only broke down when Conor Gallagher's shot was blocked.
The biggest cheer of the night so far came after 69 minutes when striker Lyle Taylor, back in action at The Valley for the first time following a lengthy spell on the treatment table, came off the bench to replace Leko.
Solly was only denied by Florent Hadergjonaj's excellent block after Taylor just missed out on connecting with Macauley Bonne's delivery before the ball fell into Solly's path.
Charlton did have the ball in the net in the 86th minute, although Taylor's effort was ruled out because Naby Sarr was adjudged to be offside.
The game appeared to be heading for a stalemate until Daly swept the ball home late on after being found by an excellent pass from Hadergjonaj.
Charlton's Lee Bowyer: "Again, the decisions have gone against us. I thought the first half wasn't very good, and the second half we were much better, we were on the front foot and only one team that was going to win it. And we end up coming away with nothing.
"Two offsides, one when Lyle runs through, and he was miles onside. And the fourth official said he looked onside to me. Second one, Purrington's shot came off the defender's foot, looped in the air, Naby tapped it down and Lyle put it in. The referee said he was offside from the flick, there was no flick, he said he was offside, there was no offside."
Huddersfield's Danny Cowley: "There is a real togetherness in there and people fighting for the cause. It's been a difficult time when pretty much everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for us off the field and we were stuck for pretty much an your in the tunnel at Blackwall, so it wasn't ideal preparation.
"There were plenty of excuses for us tonight but we didn't look for them, we were willing to fight hard, showed a high level of determination and spirit - and we found a way. I was delighted for Matty Daly to get the winner with a lovely finish, but I thought defensively we were excellent and everyone pulled together throughout the team with a real resilience. I am very proud to come away and get that result."
