Sonny Carey struck deep into stoppage time to earn Charlton Athletic a dramatic 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at The Valley, punishing the visitors for a night of profligacy in front of goal. In a cagey contest short on clear-cut chances, the midfielders long-range effort took a crucial deflection and squirmed under Josh Griffiths to settle a finely poised Championship encounter.
The win returned Charlton to the Championship play-off places, moving them up to fifth and extending an impressive run of just one defeat in 10 league matches. It also reinforced the growing sense of The Valley as a fortress; Nathan Jones side have now lost only once in their last 24 home games in all competitions, and just one of their last 22 league fixtures on their own patch. For West Brom, who had carved out enough openings to take all three points, it was another bruising night in a sequence of results that Ryan Mason openly admitted is "not good enough" despite encouraging elements of the performance.
Careys Stoppage-Time Hit Shatters The Stalemate
As the game ticked into the fifth minute of stoppage time, a goalless draw seemed the inevitable conclusion to a contest in which both defences had largely kept their opponents at arms length. Then Charlton forced a corner from the left and, when West Brom failed to clear convincingly, the ball was worked to Carey on the edge of the area. He gathered possession, turned back towards goal and, with little else on, opted for one final speculative swing from around 30 yards.