Peter Varney called for Charlton supporters to make the effort tonight, in spite of the recent lousy performances because he felt we needed to show what this club was capable of to prospective buyers. The last couple of days may not have panned out the way Varney had hoped but tonight both the team and it's supporters did the club proud in knocking Premier League Brighton out of the League Cup.
It was a battling performance from start to finish with Antony Hayes' side playing a deep 5-4-1 formation and throwing everything in the way of Brighton's 77% possession. We defended like demons personified by the lung-busting efforts of George Dobson. In the first-half we even managed a couple of decent attacks of own which reminded the visitors that they couldn't throw everyone forward.
Lavelle and Inniss atoned for Saturday's humiliation at the heart of the defence where they were joined by Lucas Ness. The additional man narrowed the gaps and with Sessegnon and Chin working overtime in the full-back berths we held firm.
After the break and with Brighton kicking towards their own fans, we absorbed even more pressure and struggled to break out. Leaburn, who started as the lone striker was subbed after 63 minutes for Chuks Aneke but poor old Chuks broke down after only five minutes with what looked like another hamstring injury. I suspect we won't see much more of him in a Charlton shirt after this. That forced Jayden Stockley on but he couldn't make much headway up front on his own either.
Maynard-Brewer was excellent in goal and made several fine saves to keep us in it but we were never exposed badly at the back and we made it fairly comfortably through seven minutes of added time to earn penalties.
The penalties were all over the place with the first three all hitting the woodwork and the lead swinging about four times. Solly March could have won it for Brighton with their fifth but he skied it. Caicedo missed their seventh which left Lavelle to apply the coup de grace.
It was a match that will live long in the memory and it gives us something to look forward to after a dire couple of months. We are now through to the last eight where we join Leicester, Newcastle, Southampton, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Man United and either Man City or Liverpool, who face each other tomorrow night. The quarter-final draw will follow the City v Liverpool match tomorrow evening.
As the last EFL side left in the competition, we will face Premier League opposition in the next round. I hope it's at home again because it would be good to see the Valley rocking again. We should also be live on TV as the prospective giant-killers.
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