Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones accused his side of “capitulating” in today’s 4-0 defeat at Stoke City.
The Addicks came into the lunchtime kick-off at the bet365 Stadium knowing a point would be enough to take them back to the top of the table before the 3pm fixtures started.
But instead they slumped to a heavy loss that ended their unbeaten start to the Championship campaign.
Charlton have conceded seven goals in the first 45 minutes of their two more recent trips to Stoke. And home supporters were quick to taunt Jones, sacked by City in November 2019 after a nine-month reign.
The damage this time around was largely inflicted in the space of 10 disastrous minutes when the Addicks went from a promising start to trailing 3-0.
Timothy Ouma was penalised for holding Ben Wilmot from a Stoke corner. Referee Robert Madley awarded a spot-kick which saw debutant Justin Devenny send Arthur Okonkwo the wrong way.
Seven minutes later and the host went 2-0 up. Ouma’s decision to try and pass to Karlan Grant on the edge of the box backfired as the ball broke loose for Ethan Galbraith to fire into the bottom left corner of the net.
Charlton’s already quickly fading hopes of salvaging anything from the match were pretty much snuffed out within 25 minutes. Eric Bocat provided the cross from the left wing and George Hirst lost marker Tyler Bindon to head in from six yards out.
The fourth goal arrived on 41 minutes. Hirst’s shot was blocked by Ivan Mesik but popped out to Bocat, totally free on the edge of the penalty area. His shot was deftly diverted home by Devenny, who signed for Stoke from Crystal Palace at the end of the transfer window.
Danny McNamara was sent off early in the second period. The right-back had been yellow carded for a pull on Bocat and then reacted with a booking gesture to Madley after Miles Leaburn was fouled by Ben Wilmot.
Not only did Wilmot escape any punishment, Madley opted instead to caution McNamara for a second time. It is the first dismissal of his career.
Charlton had one shot on target and finished with an xG (expected goals) of 0.63 with an xG from open play of 0.08. They also only had one effort on target in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.
The Addicks dropped to sixth in the standings.
Below is pretty much every word from manager Nathan Jones after the match.
Amari’i Bell has a word with referee Robert Madley after a Stoke goal/Picture: Kyle Andrews
It’s a tough afternoon, what did you make of it?
Jones: “We started really well. We wanted to silence the crowd. We knew if we got on top that this crowd goes [quiet] - we did that. Then they get given a gift, which sets them on their way. I’m really disappointed with the reaction from that - we were poor for about 25 or 30 minutes. Really, really poor.
“It happened the same as last time we were up here. I don’t know if they fear the crowd - because I come back - and the crowd is more animated than they are all season. We capitulate. We’ve done it twice since I’ve been here and it makes it a tough day for the club, tough day for the fans and a hundred times tougher for me.”
