Lee Bowyer slams woeful defensive display from Charlton

Posted Wednesday, October 03, 2018 by PA

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer blasted his side’s disastrous defending as their six-match unbeaten run came shuddering to a halt in an eight-goal thriller at Scunthorpe.

The Addicks, on the road for the second time in four days on the back of a draw at Luton on Saturday, have now scored five times in two away matches, but have picked up just one point to show for their efforts – a scenario their manager described as “unacceptable”.

Bowyer said: “It was an horrendous game for me to watch. We gave them four goals.

“Every time we went forward we looked like we were going to score, but overall it wasn’t good enough defensively.

“After watching Scunthorpe, we had to come here and win this game but I don’t know what happened – apart from poor defending and switching off.

“However you want to dress it up, it just wasn’t good enough.

“The penalty decision was crazy – he (Jason Pearce) was a yard away and was running to block a shot – and we should have had one at the other end, but we don’t seem to be getting those decisions.

“But you can’t go away from home and score three goals and not win the game. It’s unacceptable that we’ve scored five goals in two away games and only got one point.”

Scunthorpe drew first blood in a see-saw contest when Charlie Goode finished from close range in the third minute, though two goals in four minutes from Lyle Taylor and Joe Aribo quickly turned the contest on its head.

A brace from full-back Cameron Borthwick-Jackson had the hosts back in front before the break and though Aribo’s second of the night in the 64th minute made it 3-3, Scunthorpe took command via Josh Morris’ penalty, before Stephen Humphrys made the result safe in stoppage time.

Iron manager Stuart McCall admitted he was relieved to go in at half-time in front, such had been the Addicks’ dominance, but felt Scunthorpe’s second-half display was worthy of extending their own unbeaten run – which now stands at seven games.

“We got off to a great start, but we knew, speaking before the game, that we’d have a lot of defending to do,” he said.

“Charlton are one of the better sides at this level going forward. They’re a big threat and they score lots of goals, which they’ve shown already this season.

“We tried to set up in a way that meant we could counter them, but sometimes you have to hold your hands up – their football was very good in the first half.

“We said to the lads at half-time that we’d need a couple more goals because it was difficult for us defensively, but likewise, we knew we could score more goals ourselves.

“Overall it was thrills and spills, though I thought we got a better grip of the game in the second half.”