Watford 2 Charlton 0
Charlton slipped to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon.
Luca Kjerrumgaard opened the scoring for the hosts in the second half, capitalising on a rebound, before Jordan Zemura chipped home in the fourth minute of injury time to seal the points.
The Addicks had opportunities to take something from the contest, with Miles Leaburn and Charlie Kelman both going close, but were unable to find a way past Watford goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia.
Jones made one change from Tuesday night’s dramatic 2-2 draw at Burnley, with Ivan Mesík, who scored the stoppage-time equaliser at Turf Moor, returning to the starting XI in place of Amari’i Bell.
Watford had the first decent sight of goal after four minutes, when Marc Bola cut inside before firing wide of the left-hand post.
Charlton responded with a promising opportunity of their own five minutes later. Billy Koumetio drove forward impressively before releasing Mesík, who delivered an excellent pinpoint cross into the box. Leaburn met it well but could only direct his header off target from a good position.
Arthur Okonkwo was called into action in the 15th minute, producing a strong save to keep out Krépin Diatta’s rasping effort from the edge of the box, palming the ball around the post.
At the other end, Myron Boadu got the better of Kayne Ramsay on the edge of the area in the 22nd minute, but dragged his shot well wide.
The contest remained an evenly matched affair, with both sides looking to find a breakthrough. Charlton finished the first half strongly and came close to taking the lead three minutes before the interval, when a corner eventually found its way to the impressive Koumetio inside the box. The defender struck on the half-volley, curling his effort narrowly past the post.
Neither side could find the net before the break, and the teams headed into half-time level.
Jones made a change at the interval, withdrawing Oliver Skipp, who was on a booking, and introducing academy graduate Alan Mwamba.
The Addicks began the second half positively and carved out a golden opportunity in the 53rd minute. Leaburn did brilliantly down the right, beating Mattie Pollock before driving into the box and squaring for the unmarked Karlan Grant. However, his pass was just behind the forward, allowing Watford to escape.
The hosts threatened at the other end moments later when Boadu found himself through on goal, but he rolled his effort wide of the post to Charlton’s relief.
Watford would make their next opportunity count in the 58th minute. Edo Kayembe let fly from distance and Okonkwo made the initial save, but the goalkeeper’s parry fell invitingly into the path of the onrushing Kjerrumgaard, who finished from close range to give the hosts the lead.
Jones responded with a triple substitution five minutes later, bringing on Harvey Knibbs, Sonny Carey and Kelman in place of Danny McNamara, Conor Coventry and Grant as Charlton searched for a way back into the game.
Okonkwo kept the Addicks in contention in the 67th minute, getting down well to tip Kayembe’s long-range effort away from the bottom corner.
Charlton continued to push for an equaliser and came agonisingly close with 10 minutes remaining. Following a corner, Ramsay poked the ball towards goal and Kelman got on the end of it from just a couple of yards out, but despite appearing to have beaten Ravaglia from a tight angle, the Watford goalkeeper somehow kept the effort out.
The hosts then threatened to double their advantage. Okonkwo produced another excellent save in the 84th minute to keep out Martín Payero’s close-range header from a corner, before Mamadou Doumbia wasted a chance to put the result beyond doubt by firing straight at the Charlton stopper.
The Addicks continued to battle in the closing stages, but Watford struck again in the fourth minute of injury time to put the result beyond doubt. Zemura, a former Charlton academy player, was played into the penalty area and kept his composure to chip the advancing Okonkwo, sealing a 2-0 victory for the Hornets.
The visitors could not find the response they needed and left Vicarage Road empty-handed. They will look to bounce back next Saturday when they return to The Valley to host Norwich City (12.30pm).
Watford: Ravaglia; Diatta (Zemura 65), Keben, Pollock (c), Coulibaly, Bola (Mlačić 76); Kayembe, Kyprianou, Bravo (Vata 86); Boadu (Payero 65), Kjerrumgaard (Doumbia 76)
Subs (not used): Bachmann, Maamma, Nabizada, Mavididi
Goals: Kjerrumgaard 58, Zemura 90+4
Assist: Vata 90+4
Booked: Boadu 17 (foul on Ramsay), Bravo 31 (foul on Skipp), Zemura 79 (foul on Alli)
Charlton: Okonkwo; Ramsay, Jones (c), Koumetio; McNamara (Kelman 62), Coventry (Carey 62), Skipp (Mwamba 46), Mesík; Grant (Knibbs 62), Leaburn, Campbell (Alli 76)
Subs (not used): Mannion, Bindon, Bell, Mbick
Booked: McNamara 10 (foul on Bola), Skipp 32 (foul on Bravo), Campbell 44 (foul on Boadu), Coventry 47 (foul on Boadu)
Referee: Thomas Bramall
Attendance: 18,031 (2,284 from Charlton)
