Charlton Athletic 1-2 Ipswich Town – Nathan Jones’ verdict

Nathan Jones admits Charlton’s penalty concession was ‘cheap and lazy’ as Ipswich snatch comeback win

Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones accepted that the penalty which allowed Ipswich Town to secure a 2-1 comeback victory at The Valley was the right decision.

The Addicks stormed into the lead just 43 seconds into the match, but Darnell Furlong leveled with a low drive in the 36th minute, before Jaden Philogene converted from the spot in the 58th minute to complete the turnaround. It was Ipswich’s 10th penalty of the season, awarded after Macauley Gillesphey clumsily ran into the back of Furlong inside the box.

“You can’t grab people in the box. It’s cheap, it’s lazy,” Jones admitted. “We give a cheap foul away for the penalty and you can’t afford to do that against good teams. It’s a cheap one and that’s what’s costing us at the minute. We need to do the basics better.”

Charlton have now gone seven games without a win (three draws, four defeats), slipping to 21st in the table.

“I’m really frustrated,” Jones continued. “I thought the overall performance was good. We were aggressive, front-footed, and started brilliantly. They’re one of the highest possession sides in the division, but we were brave and bold—leaving two up front and causing them problems on the counter.

“It became disjointed because of the injuries. Losing Amari’i Bell forced a reshuffle, Tyreece Campbell went off at halftime, and then Matty Godden came on only to leave within a minute. All those things conspired against us.

“We only had one free-kick for the three injuries, which is frustrating. For TC’s, the player was behind him, landed on him, took him out—and we didn’t get a free-kick.

“It’s a frustrating night. They’re an unbelievable side for the Championship. Look at the players they’re bringing off the bench—we’re nowhere near that yet. The margins were so small today. We went for it late on, but fair play to them, they defended their box magnificently in the second half.

“No one’s carving us open or scoring great goals against us right now. It’s errors against Bristol City, an error on Saturday at Sheffield Wednesday, and an error tonight. We can’t keep doing that. I don’t know why. It’s not just one person—it’s a few. It could be nerves.

“We just need one good performance. We’re still in a really good position—six points clear with two games to go—and we might not need anything to stay up. But I want us to do it ourselves.”