Charlton 0 Blackpool 3 – Two sent off as nine-man hosts suffer a disastrous result in SE7
Charlton Athletic suffered a hugely damaging loss to Blackpool which saw them finish the contest down to nine men after second-half dismissals for Darren Pratley and Chuks Aneke.
The Addicks slumped to a fourth successive loss at The Valley and are now winless in their last eight matches in SE7.
They also failed to have a shot on target over the 90 minutes.
Pratley had already been booked in the first period but was not one of four half-time substitutions by manager Lee Bowyer. And referee Brett Huxtable opted to show him a second yellow after the former Swansea and Bolton man appeared to put his arm across the throat of Jordan Gabriel as he climbed back up from being on the receiving end of a full-blooded but fair sliding tackle.
Pratley will serve a two-game suspension.
Charlton were already labouring badly even with their full quota of players on the pitch and it became eight red cards this season as Chuks Aneke, like Pratley, also picked up his second dismissal of the campaign. This one was definitely contentious as Huxtable determined the striker had led with his elbow as he jumped in an aerial duel.
Blackpool started by far the sharper and hungrier and took just 10 minutes to go in front. Deji Oshilaja looked uncomfortable with the pace of Ellis Simms and brought him down as he raced into the box. Jerry Yates stuck his penalty straight down the middle.
A Jayden Stockley header was disallowed for offside in the 16th minute before Matthew Virtue made it 2-0 on 38 minutes. Charlton did not provide any kind of pressure or resistance as Virtue strode forward and planted a low shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
Lee Bowyer reacted with a quadruple substitution at the interval but Pratley’s departure almost instantly blew apart any already fading hopes of a comeback.
And then Huxtable harshly awarded another Blackpool spot-kick as Yates went down with minimal – if any – contact from Ben Watson. Once again he converted.
The visitors eased off the gas after that with Charlton continuing to fruitlessly plug away.
The Addicks are 12th in the table and they will need a miraculous finish to the campaign to salvage a play-off place.
PHOTO: KYLE ANDREWS
