Norwich City 1-0 Charlton

CHARLTON'S nightmare run continued on Saturday afternoon as defeat at Carrow Road left them without a win in 14.

Norwich’s fluid passing play was too much for Phil Parkinson’s side throughout, although they came close to drawing first blood when Grant Basey flashed a low cross past the goalmouth, just ahead of Andy Gray and Nicky Bailey.

The Canaries continued their pressure, with ex-Charlton striker Leroy Lita coming close to haunting his former club on more than one occasion, while Mark Hudson and Jose Semedo were both marginally off-target on the visitors’ few chances on the break.

The home side continued to possess the upper hand after the interval, while the Addicks’ counter-attacking was nowhere to be found and Wes Hoolahan’s goalbound effort was bravely blocked by skipper Hudson amidst a scramble in the Charlton box.

The deadlock was finally broken on the hour, as a long ball into the box from Sammy Clingan was brought down well by Lita, who turned and fired home underneath Rob Elliot.

And despite going a goal down, Charlton were unable to provide any real threat of getting back into the game, with Hameur Bouazza’s effort providing their best chance of an equaliser, requiring a good save from David Marshall.

Parkinson, in temporary charge at least until the new year, will attempt to finally end the Addicks’ slump when they entertain London rivals QPR on Boxing Day at The Valley, kick-off 1pm.