Charlton Athletic Online

Charlton Athletic 0 Everton 0

A bit like Operation Riverside coaches, you wait ages for one, then loads come along at once - Charlton played out their sixth nil nil draw in the last nine games against Everton at The Valley yesterday afternoon.

Alan Curbishley made several changes to the team that similarly drew with West Ham the previous week - Luke Young was a known casualty (and now looks likely to be out for the season unfortunately, putting his World Cup ambitions in doubt...); Bryan Hughes was another injury casualty, after suffering a bruised foot in training; while Chris Powell (expectedly) and Darren Bent (not surprisingly) were both rested. Jonathan Spector started at right back, Hermann Hreidersson moved across to left back, and Gonzalo Sorondo took the central defender spot alongside Chris Perry. In midfield, Jason Euell replaced Hughes, while Jerome Thomas played the wingers role instead of Dennis Rommedahl. Jay Bothroyd played alongside Marcus Bent up front.

Hreidersson was made captain, a little surprisingly, ahead of Matt Holland.

Everton lined up with eleven big blokes.

The game wasn't a classic, as can be found by reading the BBC report, though the official Charlton write up is probably a little more accurate. Without Darren Bent though, Charlton are a little shot-shy...

Everton started the better, but slowly Charlton drew themselves back into the game. Bent and Bothroyd started to get involved, although there was plenty of "discussion" and advice passed between players when passes went astray. Euell started to make forward runs, as there was little movement from the front two. Thomas seemed to be fouled at every opportunity, and referee Philip Walton seemed to find reason to blow his whistle at every minor coming together. In fact, the major reason why the game was tedious was down to Walton. He didn't really favour either team, but was increasingly poor in his judgement and decision making. He most certainly wasn't helped by linesmen who flagged for offside at every attack whether a player was interferring or not.

The closest either side came to scoring in the first 44 minutes was when Richard Wright let an innocuous lob from Matt Holland bounce over his head. Luckily, it was probably drifting wide when Wright caught up with the ball and he scooped it out for a corner. As the injury time board went up, Beattie unleashed a ferocious volley, similar to the goal that Viduka scored at The Valley a month ago, but this time Thomas Myrhe flicked it over the bar spectacularly.

The second half saw Charlton more involved and dominant. Euell came close, as did Rommedahl (on for Kishishev), whose shot was headed off the line by Stubbs. Everton tried to break, but Perry was in excellent form again, and Sorondo enjoyed his battle with McFadden. Late on, the Uruguayan seemed to flick out at the Scot after they had both challenged for a high ball, and as play returned, the centre back was caught late by McFadden. He fell clutching his face, and though Walton missed the incident, the linesmen flagged. Amazingly, Walton booked McFadden without consulting the linesmen. This ineptitude just summed up he game he had...

The point gained keeps Charlton in eleventh place in the Premiership, still a point behind Everton.

My man-of-the-match was Chris Perry, though the whole defence played well yet again.

Ahead of the FA Cup quarter final replay, it was good for Spector, Euell and Sorondo to get full games under their belts, and the management have an interesting decision to make on who starts in defence up at The Riverside.