Charlton’s outstanding start to the Championship season disintegrated at Stoke City as they crashed to a 4-0 half-time deficit and then had substitute Danny McNamara sent off five minutes into the second period.
It was a nightmare afternoon for Nathan Jones’s side, who went into the game in third place and started brightly. But they fell behind on 15 minutes when referee Robert Madeley awarded a dubious penalty against Timothy Ouma for grappling with Ben Wilmot at a corner.
Justin Devenny slotted home the spot-kick for the Potters on his debut after signing from Crystal Palace on transfer deadline day.
Ethan Galbraith doubled the home side’s lead seven minutes later after an Ouma clearance had deflected into his path off Charlton's Karlan Grant at the edge of the penalty area.
Stoke then made it three on 25 minutes when George Hirst got in front of Tyler Bindon to glance a header past keeper Arthur Onkonkwo from Eric Bokat’s left-wing cross.
Grant forced a rare parried block from Stoke keeper Tobias Viktor Johansson at the other end, but the home side extended their advantage when shocking marking allowed Bokat a free hit, which was going wide until Devenny cleverly diverted it home.
Jones had sent on defender Danny McNamara for top scorer Tyreece Campbell as early as the 26th minute in a tactical bid to settle his side. McNamara was booked two minutes into the second period for pulling back Galbraith. Three minutes later he received a second yellow card after running 30 yards to protest over a dangerous-looking challenge on Miles Leaburn.
If McNamara’s actions were naïve, the Charlton players’ frustration with the referee was by then understandable. An earlier brutish challenge on teammate Lloyd Jones had also gone unpunished, while Leaburn had been cautioned for what looked a lesser offence.
By then the game was already well and truly lost, however, with Charlton managing to surpass even the 3-0 half-time deficit they had accumulated on their previous visit to Stoke last November. Their last win there was in 1998.
An obvious factor appeared to be the manager’s decision to change all three midfield players from the midweek draw at West Bromwich Albion, with Oliver Skipp making his debut after signing from Nottingham Forest in midweek.
The unfortunate Ouma, who was replaced at the break by Conor Coventry, was playing only his third senior match in English football. In front of him, Joe Rankin-Costello was also given a rare Championship starting slot. Despite the busy schedule, it seemed an unlikely combination.
"I'm bitterly disappointed," admitted Jones, who previously had a fruitless spell as manager at Stoke, describing the penalty award as a "gift".
"It gave them just the start they had needed," he went on. "After that first goal we went under. We're built on being much more solid than that and our reaction was really poor. I don't know what it is about this place. Their fans seem to be far more vocal when I come back.
"When you send them out across the white line you are at the mercy of players' decisions and referees' decisions, and that's what it was today.
Asked about the team selection, Jones said: "I take full responsibility for that. We felt we needed to freshen everybody up. They've had a big shift at home, they've had a big shift on Wednesday night. We've got no time to prepare. We're on the road. It's an early kick-off. All those factors contributed.
"We've got two home games now and what we can't do is let the good start drift away."
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