Charlton 2 Manchester City 2

AN INJURY time equaliser by Chris Perry gave Charlton an unlikely point against Manchester City at The Valley on Saturday.

The Addicks were second best for most of the afternoon and looked to be heading for their second straight home defeat.

But in added time a Luke Young cross was headed on by substitute Francis Jeffers and Perry scored.

Charlton had got off to the worst possible start when Hermann Hreidarsson headed into his own net from a Robbie Fowler corner after only four minutes.

The home side responded quickly and equalised after 10 minutes. Paul Konchesky threaded the ball through to Jerome Thomas on the left and his low cross was stabbed home on the goal line by Shaun Bartlett.

Addicks keeper Dean Kiely denied Jon Macken twice in quick succession by making fine saves with his legs, before City unsurprisingly regained the lead on 38 minutes.

Joey Barton swept the ball to the far post and an unchallenged Fowler netted from close range.

Charlton’s poor first half display led to boss Alan Curbishley making two half-time substitutions. Jonathan Fortune replaced the out of sorts Mark Fish and Jeffers came on for Jonatan Johnasson as they switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

The home side almost equalised on 75 minutes when Thomas crossed from the left and skipper Matt Holland headed against the bar.

It looked as though Stuart Pearce’s side were deservedly taking the points back to Manchester before they were denied by Perry’s late goal.