Charlton U18s 5 Cardiff U18s 1
Charlton's U18s got themselves back on the winning trail in emphatic fashion on Saturday afternoon, as they beat Cardiff City's U18s 5-1 at Sparrows Lane.
The young Addicks produced a clinical display, going 3-0 up at half-time. Saturday's win now means that Charlton currently sit top of the Professional Development League South.
Jason Pearce's side went ahead inside six minutes after an excellent goal from Michael Mylona. Kacper Podgorny picked out Mylona with a superb crossfield pass to the left, allowing him to drive at the Cardiff defence before cutting inside and firing Charlton into the lead.
Cardiff saw a lot of the ball after going behind early, but the young Addicks punished their missed chances, as they doubled their advantage on 38 minutes. Raynon Richman did well to beat his man and sent a low ball into the box, that was tapped home by Mylona to give him and Charlton their second goal of the game.
The home side led 3-0 by half-time, after Zaion Christian netted on 42 minutes. Christian capitalised on a mistake by the Bluebirds' defence, and fed the ball into Kayode Peterkin, who saw his shot parried away by Joshua Donovan. But the ball only got as far as Christian, who was there to thump home the rebound.
Mylona had a chance to grab a first-half hat-trick, but saw his effort rattle the post just before the whistle blew for half-time.
Jason Pearce's side had a well-deserved 3-0 lead at the break.
12 minutes into the second-half, the young Addicks had a fourth goal. Mylona was at the heart of the action again, causing problems for Cardiff down the left-hand side. He drove a low shot towards the bottom corner that appeared to bounce off the inside of the post, but Peterkin was there to hammer the ball home from close range.
The visitors prevented Charlton from keeping a clean sheet, after they scored on 67 minutes.
Jayden Twum capped off a fine afternoon for the home side, as he fired the ball into the roof of the Cardiff goal to make it 5-1.
Charlton: Williams, Laronde (Jones-Lartey 58), Muvhuti, Simons, Reid (Grover-Smith 65); Thomas, Christian, Podgorny; Richman (Jeche 77), Peterkin (Boje 65), Mylona (Twum 65)
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