Huddersfield Town 1 : 1 Charlton Athletic - Late drama as Charlton grab a point
Posted Sunday, August 24, 2014 by PA
Striker Igor Vetokele saved Charlton's unbeaten record with an injury-time equaliser in a thrilling 1-1 draw.
It was cruel on Huddersfield - who played the second half with 10 men after defender Murray Wallace was controversially sent off.
The Terriers had led since the 50th minute after Nahki Wells tapped in a Tommy Smith cross.
And referee Tim Robinson further angered the home fans for not awarding a late penalty. Substitute James Vaughan was felled in the box by Tal Ben Haim but no foul was given and Charlton levelled soon after.
Their Belgian forward rifled in from close range from Andre Bikey's flick on from a long ball in the second of five minutes of added time.
Wells nearly put Huddersfield in front inside two minutes when stand-in Addicks keeper Nick Pope blundered.
Pope, who also made a howler against Derby in midweek, raced out of his box but was beaten by Wells, who had his goal ruled out for a foul.
The goalkeeper was put in trouble by a back pass after quarter of an hour which Wells latched on to only for Ben Haim make a last-ditch goal-saving tackle.
Pope then denied Lee Peltier and Harry Bunn with good saves before holding onto a fierce drive from Paul Dixon on 31 minutes.
At the other end Vetokele had a goal ruled out for off-side on 21 minutes before twice going close.
On 33 minutes Johnnie Jackson and Bikey combined to put the striker through and he rounded keeper Alex Smithies but was tackled by Wallace.
A long ball over the top put Vetokele in six minutes later and this time Smithies tipped his powerful drive over for a corner.
Just seconds before Wallace's dismissal Peltier was booked for a cynical foul on Yoni Buyens after the Charlton player had left him trailing.
Wallace, who had a good game until his dismissal, saw red in first half stoppage time.
He was dismissed for bringing down Vetokele on the edge of the box.
The Town defender was not the last man as both Smith and Joel Lynch were covering but referee Robinson did not hesitate in producing the red card.
However it seemed to fire up Huddersfield, who had Charlton on the back foot despite being a man down.
Wells scored during a spell of pressure in which Conor Coady also headed just wide from a Harry Bunn cross.
Vaughan forced Pope into a great save on 67 minutes while at the other end Johann Gudmundsson nearly levelled with low shot which flashed just wide.
The game came to a frantic end-to-end finish, with late goal drama and a loud boos at the end from home fans for the referee.
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