Article body analysed
Football
Charlton Athletic
vs Blackburn Rovers. Sky Bet Championship.
3: 00pm, Saturday 27th September 2025.
The Valley Attendance: Attendance19, 004.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Charlton Athletic and Blackburn Rovers at The Valley on Saturday; goals from Macaulay Gillesphey, Sonny Carey and James Bree secure an emphatic win for Nathan Jones' Addicks Saturday 27 September 2025 18: 26, UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Charlton continued their impressive start to life back in the Championship with an emphatic 3-0 win at home to Blackburn. Macaulay Gillesphey, Sonny Carey and James Bree were on target as the hosts made it back-to-back wins following last weekend's victory at Sheffield United. Nathan Jones' side have had few issues in adapting to life back in the second tier and their defensive solidity has been a huge strength. They have kept four clean sheets in their opening seven league fixtures. The match got off to a scrappy start before the Addicks finished the first half firmly in the ascendancy. Gillesphey, who scored the winning goal in the League One play-off final against Leyton Orient in May, broke the deadlock in the 31st minute. The defender had been brought on to replace Josh Edwards, who sustained what appeared to be an ankle injury in a challenge with Ryan Alebiosu, and met Bree's cross with a fine header back across Rovers goalkeeper Balazs Toth and into the right-hand corner of the net. From that moment onward, the outcome never looked in doubt.
Download the Sky Sports app
Watch EFL on Sky with NOW
Blackburn took 34 minutes to test Thomas Kaminski at the other end, but even then Yuki Ohashi's ambitious shot from outside the area was an easy save. Toth had to come sharply off his line to prevent Tyreece Campbell latching on to Charlie Kelman's pass. Blackburn's unimpressive opening 45 minutes was summed up by a terrible free-kick from Harry Pickering which comfortably cleared the crossbar. Charlton had another couple of chances just before the break, with Campbell heading Carey's cross wide at the near post and Toth making a frantic one-handed save to keep out Lloyd Jones' close-range header. The Addicks threatened to extend their advantage early in the second half. Toth was called into action again to deny Charlton captain Greg Docherty, while Campbell produced a curling right-footed attempt narrowly past a post. Reece Burke was guilty of a glaring miss for the hosts in the 70th minute, lashing over after Toth could only parry Carey's fierce strike out to the centre-back. Charlton finally made their dominance count in the 78th minute as Carey scored his second goal of the campaign, thumping a powerful effort past Toth from substitute Isaac Olaofe's pass. Southampton loanee Bree capped a highly impressive performance with the third goal in added time as he produced a first-time finish to drive home Docherty's cross from just inside the area. Charlton's Nathan Jones: "It is not about that. It is about us doing the basics well and evolving as a team. There is a process about us being really difficult to beat and (getting) clean sheets - from there we will evolve. "We were outstanding. Our second-half performance was relentless and it should have been more. We missed some glorious chances. "I'm immensely proud of our performance - that's how I want to see us play. "I'm really pleased for Macaulay. He has been hard done by, because he scored the play-off final winner and then has not started any of the first six or seven games. "It is tough to take, but he was immense today - not just the goal but his overall performance. "I couldn't believe Sonny shot from there, I thought he should've played it to Bree who was inside and in a better position. But the ginger genius, we love him. "The energy our midfield three played with was brilliant. Conor Coventry dealt with Todd Cantwell phenomenally, because if Cantwell is in the game then they are a good side. He went up against him and was aggressive in everything he did. "The game changers we brought on really took the game away from them and that highlights it is a squad game. We say it every day - it is a culture and environment that we demand. "We're only as strong as our weakest links. But if we have any weak links they don't survive at this football club because we have an ethos that it is a group and not the individual. " Blackburn's Valerien Ismael: "It can be the game changer. What is really embarrassing for me is the referee winked at our captain. The captain is allowed to speak to the referee and he has winked and laughed at him - this is unacceptable. "He made a mistake, that can happen, but at least treat our player properly. "It was not a great game. We had some good moments at the beginning, but the performance was not that good. I don't know why. It can happen. "We were not good enough with the ball, it was as simple as that. The last two goals were too easy. It has been a tough week now and we have a quick turnaround to the next game on Tuesday. " The £250, 000 is up for grabs with Super 6, and as always it is completely free to play. Entries by 3pm Saturday.
© 2025 Sky UK