Charlton’s U21s maintained their flawless start to the 2022/23 campaign with a comprehensive 5-0 triumph at Sheffield Wednesday last Friday.
Goals from Matt Dench, Jeremy Santos, Euan Williams and a late brace from Daniel Kanu sealed yet another three points for the young Addicks, who sit top of the Professional Development League 2 – South table having earned victory in each of their three outings thus far.
After a goalless opening period that included chances for both sides, the game sprung into life and Dench broke the deadlock just four minutes after the restart. Having found a yard of space inside the Owls’ box, the 18-year-old found the bottom corner with an angled effort to give the Addicks the lead.
Santos doubled the Addicks’ advantage in fine fashion on 68 minutes, finding the top corner with a sensational free-kick wide of the 18-yard box.
Goalscorer Santos soon turned provider, delivering a pinpoint low centre for the advancing Williams who steered the ball home from close range.
The young Addicks added further gloss to the scoreline in the final minutes as Santos found Kanu racing in behind the hosts’ defence and the prolific forward made no mistake, rifling into the top corner with an unerring finish.
And Kanu repeated the trick just moments later, latching onto Williams’ through ball and clinically converting a lightning Charlton counter-attack.
Coach Danny Senda was thrilled with the application of the players. He said: “The performance was an intelligent one. We arrived and the pitch wasn’t conducive to how we want to play. It took us probably around 10 minutes to work it out.
“I encouraged the players to be brave, show courage and look after our style, and they did that. We managed the conditions well and when we went into the second half we really took the game away from them. We had full control, created some wonderful openings and scored some really good goals.”
Charlton: Kone; O’Connor (Barker 76), Ness, Bakrin, Dench (Oguntayo 76); Adigun (Reilly 72), Anderson, Santos; Williams, Kanu, Ladapo (Campbell 76)
Subs (not used): Trialist
Goals: Dench 49, Santos 68, Williams 81, Kanu 88, 90+1
Report: charltonafc.com