Championship leaders Coventry City were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at The Valley as Joe Rankin-Costello's first goal for Charlton Athletic cancelled out Ellis Simms's early strike. The result continued Coventry's festive hangover and offered a precious point to a home side still looking anxiously over their shoulders at the relegation zone.
Simms struck inside the opening three minutes, seemingly setting Frank Lampard's side on their way to a routine win, but Charlton responded with intensity and no little quality in a full-blooded contest. Both goalkeepers, Thomas Kaminski and Carl Rushworth, were busy throughout a match that featured a major penalty appeal, periods of pressure at both ends, and enough chances for either side to have taken all three points.
Simms Strikes Early as Leaders Seek to Steady Form
Coventry could hardly have scripted a better start. With just over two minutes played, Milan van Ewijk advanced down the right and whipped in a low cross that found Simms around 14 yards out. The former Everton striker, who had gone six matches without a goal and had scored twice in the reverse fixture between the sides in November, met it with a clinical first-time finish that flew past Kaminski for his ninth of the campaign.