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Norwich City 1 Charlton 0

Former Charlton striker Mathias Svensson came off the bench to score the winner for Norwich City and put an end to his old club's hopes of playing European football next season.

Carrow Road has seen a lot of late goals in recent games, and Svensson's 87th-minute strike gave the Canaries a fighting chance of staying in the Premiership after he beat former teammate Dean Kiely in a nailbiting end to a thrilling encounter.

Moments before, Danny Murphy could have scored the winner when he struck the post with a deflected free-kick but it was Norwich's day as they battle to avoid the drop, and now the Addicks must fight to avoid dropping out of the top 10 come the season's end.

Prior to the game, Charlton manager Alan Curbishley had predicted a number of twists and turns, but he could not have predicted the dramatic finish to this, with the decision to sell Svensson to Norwich last season coming back to haunt him.

Svensson had already come close to scoring, but was denied by the Addicks goalkeeper, who made an impressive one-handed parry.

But at the second time of asking, he made no mistake.

The goal came from an Adam Drury throw-in on the left-hand side which was nodded on by two Norwich players and the ball fell kindly for the Swedish forward, who expertly finished from 12 yards.

The Addicks, now 11th in the Premiership on goal difference as they have equal points to 10th-placed Manchester City, went to Carrow Road to face a Norwich side that had defeated Manchester United and Newcastle United in their previous two home fixtures and both sides were obviously eyeing three points in this high energy game - but for very different reasons.

Charlton were just three points off seventh place - the final UEFA Cup qualifying spot - but with games against Manchester United and Chelsea before Crystal Palace visit The Valley on the final day of the season, the Addicks have all but written off their chances of securing European football next season.

Alan Curbishley kept faith with the starting XI that managed a no-score draw at Aston Villa in midweek, after the Addicks shipped 12 goals in four games - although he was forced to make one change.

Luke Young returned to the starting line-up after being sidelined with a calf injury for the Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa matches to play in the left-back position for the Addicks, with Hermann Hreidarsson ruled out with a knee injury and Paul Konchesky serving the second of his two-games suspension for a reserve game red card.

But a goalless draw - where the Carrow Road match looked to be heading despite numerous chances at both ends - would not have done either side any favours. The visitors controlled much of the possession in the first half, but it was City who should have gone back to their dressing room a goal to the good at half-time.

After an energetic opening 10 minutes the game settled and Charlton - playing in a 4-2-3-1 style formation with Matt Holland and Bryan Hughes playing in front of the back four - became the more composed of the two outfits.

The Addicks' best chances fell to Jonatan Johansson, preferred to Jerome Thomas for the second game in sucession.

In the seventh minute Radostin Kishishev broke from the his position at right-back, played a neat one-two with Francis Jeffers, and picked out the advancing Johansson.

The Finland international needed to produce a expert first touch to bring the ball down. But with Norwich defender Jason Shackell putting pressure on the forward - playing on the left wing - he could not control the ball with the precision needed.

Five minutes later Johansson was through on goal, but England international Robert Green came out on top in the one-on-one.

Nigel Worthington's men looked a threat from set pieces with big centre forward Dean Ashton the target and Charlton were guilty of giving away two dangerous free kicks on the left side of the area.

On-loan Arsenal midfielder David Bentley took both, but the Addicks were organised in defence and averted the danger both times - through a Kiely punch then a Young headed clearance.

With a minute to go to the half-time break, the impressive Ashton should have scored from what turned out to be the easiest chance of the game.

Charlton momentarily switched off and Leon McKenzie beat Young in the air to nod the ball on for the England U21 international, who had time to pick his shot out. But Kishishev - alerted to the danger - managed to put him under enough pressure that the Norwich forward put his shot narrowly wide of the upright.

The visitors started the second period brightly, with Talal El Karkouri producing a powerful on-target effort on 51 minutes but Canaries keeper Green was equal to it.

Dennis Rommedahl continued his good run of form in a red shirt and was proving a handful on the right flank. He made a number of runs, often linking up well with Murphy, and forced a great save from Green in the 62nd minute with a curling effort from the edge of the area.

Charlton were again guilty of gifting Norwich a dangerous chance after Jonathan Fortune was penalised for a backpass to Kiely inside the six-yard box on the edge of the goalline, despite the Addicks' protests.

But the position of the resulting free-kick was probably too close to the goalline and Bentley's lay-off for Ashton was well blocked by Kishishev.

Throughout the 90 minutes Charlton won a plethora of corners but failed to make them count - perhaps through missing the aerial presence of the sidelined Hreidarsson.

With the clock ticking, Curbishley sent on Jason Euell and then Jerome Thomas in the search for the winning goal. Both and had chances to score, thanks to the vision of Murphy, who continued to be at the heart of every Charlton attack, but both players shot at the keeper.

And it was Murphy himself who came closest for the Addicks.

His 20-yard free kick took a deflection off Ashton in the Norwich wall and hit the outside of the upright.

Moments later Svensson showed his intent after being introduced by his manager Worthington in the 79th minute.

Obviously fired up at the chance to face his former team, the forward made an immediate impact, forcing a great save from Kiely with almost his first touch.

When he got his second chance though, the Swedish striker lashed home on the half-volley and, with the seconds ticking, the Addicks had it all to do to make their efforts count at Carrow Road.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Kishishev, El Karkouri, Fortune, Holland, Murphy, Hughes (Euell 61), Rommedahl, Johansson (Thomas 81), Jeffers. Subs (not used): Andersen, Perry, Lisbie.

Booking: El Karkouri 23 (foul on McKenzie).

Norwich: Green, Helveg, Drury, Fleming, Shackell, Bentley (Svensson 79), Francis, Safri, Jonson (Huckerby 62), McKenzie (Holt 90), Ashton. Subs (not used): Ward, Brennan.

Goal: Svensson 87.

Booking: Helveg 19 (foul on Johansson).

Att: 25,459

Ref: M Atkinson.

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