Brighton 0, Charlton 0: Seagulls squander chance

Patrick Gleeson reports on Brighton’s latest match.
Our Seagulls correspondent - Patrick GleesonOur Seagulls correspondent - Patrick Gleeson
Our Seagulls correspondent - Patrick Gleeson

Albion squandered the chance to climb to fifth place in the Championship table after their goalless draw with Charlton.

The home side bossed the game from start to finish and struck the woodwork twice deep into stoppage time in the second half but were unable to penetrate a resilient Addicks defence.

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The point keeps the Seagulls in the play-off places and sets up an mouthwatering fixture with seventh place Leicester City at the Amex on Saturday.

In bitter conditions, Leonardo Ulloa saw his prod towards goal blocked by Michael Morrison in the early stages while Spaniard Inigo Calderon also came close with a strike from outside the box.

Charlton tried to hit Albion on the break with every opportunity in the first 20 minutes and Yann Kermogrant was presented with a glorious chance as a result, but after the midfielder swivelled neatly he blasted the ball high over the bar.

The best chance of the half, however, fell to Calderon. The ball dropped to the right-back who could only drag the shot wide of the post from a matter of yards.

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Kazenga LuaLua attempted numerous efforts from outside of the Charlton penalty area but his accuracy was lacking and they all flew wildly off target.

Neither club looked like scoring in the opening stages of the second half, with two tame efforts from Charlton winger Callum Harriott the best either side could produce.

It took an audacious 30 yard strike from Vicente in the final 10 minutes to kick-start the game into life, and it took a smart save from Ben Hamer to stop the ball from squeezing past him at the near post.

Dale Stephens then fizzed an effort towards goal from all of 40 yards after noticing Tomasz Kuszczak a yard off his line, but the Polish goalkeeper quickly sorted his feet and acrobatically palmed the ball over the crossbar.

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A late flurry of activity then saw Vicente’s rasping shot brilliantly touched onto the crossbar, before a strong Gordon Greer header kissed the inside of the post and booted away seconds from the final whistle.

Albion remain unbeaten at the Amex in 2013 and will be in high spirits for the visit of Nigel Pearson’s Foxes at the weekend.

Attendance - 28,043