What a strange 90 odd minutes. For half an hour we bossed the game. Won all the second balls, applied the press very successfully causing them to give up possession. Lots of nice passing combinations and some of the best "proper" football we've seen all season. Unfortunately, it led to nothing as our 1st shot was on 18 minutes from Nyambe out wide and about 30 yards from goal and went 4 yards wide of the near post. Our 2nd was another hit and hope by Smith from outside the box. Our only other attempt on goal in the first half was the corner from which Cash scored. Honesty demands that I add, if we'd had VAR, it would have been disallowed for Nelson's headlock on one of their defenders preventing him from jumping for the ball.
The last 15 of the first half, was pretty even, apart from the goal.
2nd half we never got going. They got all the 2nd balls, their press worked and we, as with them 1st half, failed to string 3 passes together. They started to play long balls into the channels to try to undo us with their speed which caused the backline to defend deeper, dragging the MF back and the front 4 as well. Despite their having taken control, as with us, 1st half, that dominance didn't turn into decent attempts on goal. Then JW had his rush of blood, should never have gone through with the challenge, defenders and MF's were getting back and the Charlton player was going away from goal. Silly challenge and a penalty all the way. Then JW made a 2nd mistake. All that stupid jumping up and down and left to right, far from putting the taker off, actually gives him an advantage, one he seems to have gladly taken. When utilising these antics, the keeper's feet are off the ground more often than they are on it. When they are off the floor he can move neither right no left. The little jumps tend to be at a constant frequency. Time your run so you strike the ball when the keeper's feet are off the ground and anywhere towards either post will go in with the keeper totally stranded. had the ball gone straight down the middle and he'd stopped it, it would have been retaken as JW was off his line too soon... that would have been a 3rd error.
Their 2nd goal, poor pass from Wilson to Adams who, therefore, couldn't control it and the ball fell to Aneke who ran on, decent pass to a colleague whose shot was well parried by JW but the rebound fell to Anderson who smashed it into the roof of the net.
We well and truly shot ourselves in the foot.