His Knibbs intervenes in the nick of time to give Charlton a winning start at expense of Watford
- By Yann Tear at The Valley
- Aug 9
- 2 min read
Charlton Athletic (0)1 Knibbs 90
Watford (0) 0
Substitute Harvey Knibbs bagged an unforgettable injury-time goal to give Charlton the perfect outcome to their first match back in the Championship.
Nathan Jones' promoted Addicks had been struggling to land a telling blow against the Hornets, but they finished the stronger of the two and when a corner swung over to the far post came back across the six yard box, there was Knibbs to crash it home.
The 26-year-old summer signing from Reading celebrated by standing up on top of a barrier behind the goal - arms aloft - to milk the adulation.
He had only been on 10 minutes in place of Tyreese Campbell but made the moment count to make it an ideal start to life back in the second tier.
Such was the level of noise generated at kick-off, you felt the Addicks might soon profit from the wave of visceral excitement cascading from the Floyd Road end.
Within a few minutes, Rob Apter had scooted to the byline and pulled the ball back for Lloyd Jones to fire goalwards. It needed a stretch from Egil Selvik to palm the ball to safety.
But the bluster was largely an illusion. By the time Apter had turned onto a pass from Sonny Carey to curl a low left foot shoot wide half an hour in, Watford had established a strong foothold and begun to probe - Moussa Sissoko and Imran Louza to the fore in midfield, with Kwando Baah testing the Charlton left flank with his pace.
That said, a firm header from Jones almost found the net following a free-kick being pinged in from the right by Apter. Selvik was again in the way.
It was a game that always looked likely to need only one goal to settle it and after Louza had gone close with a free-kick at the start of the second half, it was Charlton's turn to go close when Campbell's wicked ball in from the left was almost turned in by debutant Charlie Kelman - the ex-QPR man who spent last season on loan to such good effect just up the road at Leyton Orient.
The closest the Addicks came to pinching appeared to have come and gone when Apter cut in from the right to send another shot just past the upright. But as it turned out, there was more to come.
The Hornets gave Danish striker Luca Kjerrugaard the full 90 minutes and the 22-year-old loan signing from Odense showed some nice touches, even if he did not get many real chances to find the net.
For new boss Paulo Pezzolano, this would have been seen as an okay first return since taking over from Tom Cleverley in the dugout. But that late change in narrative spoilt his and Watford's day.
Addicks: (4-2-3-1) Kaminski - Ramsay, Jones, Bell, Edwards (Gillesphey 80) - Coventry, Docherty - Apter, Campbell (Knibbs 80), Carey (Olaofe 87), Kelman (Leaburn 71)
Hornets: (4-3-3) Selvik - Ngakia, Keben, Abankwah (Alleyne 87), Bola - Kyprianou, Sissoko (Grieves 72), Louza (Kayembe 72) - Baah (Irankunda 63), Kjerrumgaard, Doumbia (Ince 72)
Attendance: 21.778
Comments