Forest Green Rovers 0 Charlton 1
Charlton made it three away wins in a row with a 1-0 victory at Forest Green Rovers.
The Addicks dominated the opening 25 minutes, with Corey Blackett-Taylor notching his sixth goal of the season, but Charlton had to defend bravely after some late pressure from the away side in the final quarter of the game.
Dean Holden brought Chuks Aneke in for his first league start of the season and Steven Sessegnon returned at right back as the Addicks began in a 4-3-3 formation.
Charlton began the game with a real pace and purpose and Jes Rak-Sakyi gave the home side an early warning with a lovely piece of control and drilled cross-field pass to Blackett-Taylor. The winger cut inside onto his stronger right foot but saw his shot blocked away to safety.
It was shortly after the warning that the pair combined again to give Charlton a 12th-minute lead. The in-form Rak-Sakyi collected just inside the Forest Green half and drove down the right wing past Jamie Robson. His low cross took a slight deflection but was met by the intended target, Blackett-Taylor, who made no mistake with a powerful finish.
Three minutes later and it could have been 2-0, Sean Clare’s deep cross found Aneke at the back post who headed across goal. Rak-Sakyi wasn’t able to connect properly with a difficult volley and Rovers were able to clear.
The home side had very little in the first half with their best chance falling to Ben Stevenson who blasted over from just inside the area after a quick break from Forest Green.
Blackett-Taylor got in down the left wing just before the break but dragged his shot wide of goal as the Addicks went in to half-time 1-0 up.
It was a quiet start to the second half with an Amadou Bakayoko shot clearing the bar for the home side and Steven Sessegnon shooting straight at keeper Ross Doohan for the Addicks.
Forest Green picked up some late momentum and Lucas Ness headed away bravely to deny Corey O’Keefe at the back post before the Addicks had to defend a string of dangerous Charlie Savage corners with Ashley Maynard-Brewer making an excellent save to keep out Brandon Cooper’s header.
January signing, Michael Hector, made his debut as a late substitute as the Addicks held on for an important clean sheet and three points.
Forest Green Rovers: Doohan, O’Keefe (Godwin-Malife 79), Bernard (Omotoye 79), McGeouch (c) (Savage 65), Casey, Stevenson, Garrick (McAllister 49), Robson, Bakayoko, Cooper, Peart-Harris
Subs (not used): Thomas, McCann, Clarke
Charlton: Maynard-Brewer; Clare, Inniss, Ness, Sessegnon; Kilkenny (Payne 80), Dobson (c), Fraser; Rak-Sakyi, Aneke (Bonne 70), Blackett-Taylor (Hector 80)
Subs (not used): Wollacott, Penney, Morgan, Campbell
Goal: Blackett-Taylor 12
Assist: Rak-Sakyi 12
Booked: Bonne 90+8
Referee: C Pollard
Attendance: 2,670 (871 from Charlton)
