Football Mar 28, 2026

Charlton Athletic 0-1 Norwich City: Pelle Mattsson steers Canaries to victory

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By Admin
Sports Journalist
Charlton Athletic 0-1 Norwich City: Pelle Mattsson steers Canaries to victory

Norwich moved into the Sky Bet Championship top 10 as Pelle Mattsson's early goal secured a 1-0 victory at Charlton.

The Canaries went ahead in the fifth minute at The Valley, the 24-year-old midfielder bagging his first goal since he joined from Silkeborg last summer.

Ali Ahmed's pass set up a shooting chance for the Dane on the edge of the penalty area and he sent a right-footed strike through a packed box and beyond Addicks goalkeeper Will Mannion.

Paris Maghoma gave the hosts a headache with his movement and went close to extending City's lead in the 14th minute. Kenny McLean slipped the ball to the right winger and it needed a smart diving save from Mannion to only concede a corner.

Maghoma was involved in a breakaway chance in the 26th minute. He cued up a chance for Mathias Kvistgaarden, who cut inside Lloyd Jones but sent his low shot past the far upright.

Mannion tipped over a Maghoma cross which threatened to creep under his crossbar with Charlton, unbeaten in three league games heading into the contest, unable to seriously test Norwich number one Vladan Kovacevic in the opening 45 minutes.

Both Maghoma and Kellen Fisher produced poor finishes before the break as Norwich's fluid interplay allowed them to exploit space.

Charlton's potency increased once Miles Leaburn replaced Luke Chambers with Tyreece Campbell switched to left wing-back.

Kayne Ramsay headed Sonny Carey's deep corner in the 65th minute against the crossbar from close range with Harry Clarke's follow-up attempt blocked.

Referee Will Finnie waved away Charlton penalty appeals after Ruairi McConville appeared to grab the arm of Lloyd Jones.

Moments later Clarke arrived on to a dangerous Campbell cross but was unable to keep his header down.

Norwich continued to be a threat on the counter, particularly with the Addicks committing more players forward in search of a leveller.

Kvistgaarden picked out Maghoma at the back post but the City attacker was unable to turn the ball home.

Mannion made an excellent reaction save to keep out a deflected Maghoma shot in the 70th minute as the game became more stretched.

McConville produced a big block on a Carey shot with Norwich happy to run the clock down; Kellen Fisher was booked for time-wasting just past the hour mark.

Charlton had one chance deep into the five minutes of additional time, Carey dropped to the turf in dismay after his shot flashed wide of Kovacevic's goal.

Charlton's Nathan Jones:

"We have to defend the goal better - we have conceded from the edge of the box by trying to be too safe and dropping in too much.

"We have enough situations around the final third to have created more than we did. We lacked quality and that bit of composure. That is our learning curve, we have to get better.

"There are some unacceptable decisions in the game. I have no doubt we will get another apology for a baffling decision. There are other ones I filmed and took in, which are on another planet. What are you seeing there? That has cost us today as well.

"Anywhere else on the pitch it is a foul on Lloyd. It is a foul all day long. It was three times the amount of contact than the one Oxford got a penalty for last week.

"Sonny Carey normally hits the target. Against Wrexham here their goalkeeper pulled off a world-class save. Today he had a chance and didn't quite catch it right."

Norwich's Philippe Clement:

"I don't see this a bounceback because everyone saw the performance in midweek. For me a bounceback is more from a bad performance.

"We know this is a hard place to come. Charlton are very physical and very direct. They had the whole week to prepare while we had the trip to Southampton and got back at around three o'clock in the morning to Norwich.

"It was a short turnaround and we have a number of injured players. We did not have much possibility to rotate the squad. My team brought a really good shift today: mentally, physically and tactically.

"We were really good on the ball and we were the dominant team. If it was only a physical battle we would lose this one, for sure, so we had to do it in a different way.

"They stayed calm and did the right things on the ball. The only thing we missed today was to score more goals. I think that also has to do with freshness.

"A lot of players played with a really big heart today and they won those duels.

"I'm happy for Pelle. Those are the things we work on in training - to get those kinds of shots. It's good for players to get the reward in the game and to get confidence to do it more. He showed a lot of quality before his injury.

"It's not about me, it's about the players and fans."

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