Abdul Fatawu's first goal in almost 15 months gave Leicester City a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Charlton Athletic, the Ghana international curling a stunning second-half winner to settle a bruising Championship contest at The Valley. The winger finished off a devastating counter-attack early in the second half, cutting inside from the right and bending an unstoppable shot into the far top corner beyond home goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski in the 48th minute.
Charlton, back in the second tier after promotion via the League One play-offs, will feel they deserved far more after amassing 18 attempts, seven on target, and 13 corners, while repeatedly penning Leicester into their own half. Lloyd Jones saw a late header controversially disallowed and Tyreece Campbell nodded over from eight yards in stoppage time, but Marti Cifuentes' side clung on for their first away win under the Spaniard and their first on the road since Boxing Day, handing the Addicks a first defeat since their Wembley promotion and a first home loss at The Valley since 3 December.
Addicks take the game to Leicester from the first whistle
Nathan Jones made a bold call up front, replacing Charlie Kelman with Miles Leaburn in attack for what he later described as a purely tactical decision, and was rewarded with a front-foot performance. Charlton set the tone with an aggressive high press, repeatedly winning possession in Leicester's half and flooding red shirts into the visitors' penalty area as they sought to pounce on defensive mistakes.