Everton edge past Charlton in dominant display
Everton Women secured a 1:0 victory over Charlton Athletic at home in the Women's Super League on Saturday. The result keeps the hosts on course for a positive start to the campaign, while Charlton remain winless after two defeats. And here's the thing — the match was decided by a moment of misfortune for the visitors rather than anything Everton did to force the issue.
Charlton's troubles began early in the second half when A. Neville was sent off in the 58th minute. The hosts took full advantage of their numerical superiority, pinning the visitors back across the pitch. Charlton were forced to make three changes in quick succession at the hour mark, bringing on N. Layzell, H. Hayashi, L. Fitzgerald, E. N'Dow and L. Davidson in two waves. By then, the game was already slipping away from them.
The breakthrough came in the 77th minute through an own goal by L. Robe of Charlton. Everton had dominated possession throughout, controlling 78 per cent of the ball, but the chances went begging for most of the contest. They created just one big chance all afternoon yet found themselves ahead through a defensive error. To be fair, Charlton had little to offer in attack — just two key passes against Everton's ten.
The statistics told the full story. Everton registered 145 attacks compared to Charlton's 66, and their shots off target alone (11) exceeded the visitors' total attempts on goal. Charlton's red cards doubled by the final whistle when H. Cissoko was dismissed in the 90+3 minute following a yellow card just two minutes earlier. The visitors made only five crosses all match, none of which found their target.
Everton move off the bottom of the table with three points from two games, while Charlton sit in 13th place with zero points and have not yet drawn or won a match. The hosts' recent form had been mixed — a 0:1 defeat to Crystal Palace preceded this result — but the performance suggested a side finding its feet. Charlton's run of heavy defeats continues, including a 0:4 thrashing by Liverpool earlier this month.
What this match showed was how quickly the table goes out of the window when one side loses their discipline. Everton kept their side in it through sheer volume of possession, while Charlton found no answer once they were reduced to ten men. The clean-sheet run came to an end for the visitors, and the gap between the two sides in the standings looks likely to widen.