Charlton U21s 1 Millwall U21s 0
Charlton’s U21s beat Millwall 1-0 at The Valley on Tuesday afternoon thanks to a winning goal from Kai Enslin.
New signing Lyndon Tas came straight into the U21s starting line-up. Enslin and Josh Hebert returned to the bench after a spell on the sidelines through injury.
Millwall made the brighter start of the two sides, pressuring the Addicks from minute one. Sacha Viera won a corner, which Charlton managed to clear away.
Ellis McMillan had the ball in the net not long after, but the flag went up for offside.
Moments later, Harry Taylor tested Tas in goal with a header from a set-piece, but the keeper did well to gather his effort.
Reuben Reid had a chance to break the deadlock before the end of the first half. Jacob Safa and Ellis McMillan linked up well in the middle of the park, before playing the ball out to Reid in plenty of space. The winger snatched at his shot and it blazed way over the bar.
Jaydon Thomas-Smith unleashed a powerful effort from outside the area that was only thwarted by his own defender. Thomas-Smith continued to cause trouble for the home side as he got the better of the Addicks’ defence and fed the ball through to Tyrese Ndige, who saw his effort saved by Tas.
The two sides were all square at the break.
There wasn’t much to separate the teams at the start of the second half. Chris Solly made a change on 59 minutes and introduced Hebert and Enslin into the fray as they replaced Bradley Tagoe and Jacob Safa.
Kai Enslin had a chance to put Charlton ahead moments after coming on, after making a good run to the edge of the area but when he got his shot away, he couldn’t divert his effort on target.
Enslin would soon have another chance to put the home side in front which he would convert. Jakub Przeworny had raced away from goal when Enslin spotted the opportunity. He rounded the Millwall goalkeeper before keeping his composure to calmly slot home and put the Addicks a goal to the good.
Jack Belton was introduced in the closing stages as Charlton looked to see out the win, with Kayode Peterkin making way for the midfielder.
Enslin almost had a brace in the final moments of stoppage time, but saw his strike hit the post.
The Addicks held firm to secure all three points against Millwall at The Valley, making it back-to-back wins in the PDL.
The U21s are next in action on Monday, October 6th, as they head to Ashton Gate to take on Bristol City’s U21s in the PDL (1pm BST)
Charlton: Tas; Brown, Laqeretabua (c), Rayment-Dawkins, Davis (Valentine, 19); Safa (Enslin 59), Washington-Amoah, McMillan, Tagoe (Hebert 59), Peterkin (Belton 83), Reid
Subs (not used): Williams, McNamee-Burke, Elliott
Goal: Enslin 70
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