Despite being reduced to ten men in the second half, Charlton’s under-18s beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to return to the top of the table on Saturday.
Charlton started brightly and were ahead very early when the Palace keeper failed to hold a long range effort and the rebound fell to striker, Josh Umerah, who tapped in from close range for his first goal of the season.
Straight from the restart Palace almost levelled, hitting the post from a one-on-one and also had two other good chances in the first half to level. But they were denied by poor finishing and a good save from Harry Doherty.
Charlton created chances of their own and were the better side in the first half and got into many decent positions without having that golden touch in front of goal. Karlan Ahearne-Grant, George Lapslie and Josh Umerah all squandered chances.
The second half started out as even contest and an early Crystal Palace equaliser came when their player weaved past a couple of Charlton defenders before curling the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
The controversial moment of the game happened midway through the second half when goalscorer, Josh Umerah, was given a straight red card for allegedly jumping for a ball, leading with his elbow and making contact with the Palace defender.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, it was Charlton who looked more likely to win the match, creating a number of chances, Their performance and dominance finally paid off in the final moments when Karlan Ahearne-Grant broke into the box and passed to George Lapslie who crossed across the box to unmarked substitute, Tomi Adeloye, who tapped in from close range to win the South London derby for the Addicks. Charlton: Harry Doherty; Aaron Barnes, Joe Gomez (c), Terrell Thomas, Archie Edwards; Regan Cook, George Lapslie, Greig Stewart, Brandon Hanlan; Karlan Ahearne-Grant, Josh Umerah.
Subs: Levander Pyke, Lamce Shehaj, Mehawl Martin, Connor Leon, Tomi Adeloye.
The under-16s made it two wins for Charlton, beating their Crystal Palace counterparts 1-0.