United made several changes to the team that beat Spurs, bringing in Park and Fletcher for Ronaldo and Carrick. It was the absence of these two players that meant that United often looked disjointed, lacking a cutting edge or someone to distribute the ball and retain possession. Charlton also offered far more here than the 20-1 odds they were given would suggest and if this was meant to be a mundane defeat, nobody had informed them.
Park blazed over the bar and Carson saved well from a Giggs shot in the early exchanges but the visitors also had good chances with Rommedahl hitting the side netting from 15 yards. Charlton battled far harder than their league position suggests and the sight of Vidic being forced off the ball by Matt Holland ideally illustrated this. The resultant throw-in gave Charlton a good chance to go ahead and Kuszczak was at full stretch to stop Ambrose's header from going into the bottom right corner.
Despite Charlton's efforts a United goal always seemed likely and they managed to take the lead in the 24th minute. Evra's attempted cross took a deflection, sending it looping into the penalty area. Park was first to react, running and leaping to meet the ball and head it across Carson and into the net. Rooney had an excellent chance to extend the lead showing his full skills, controlling the ball then lifting it over the onrushing Diawara before just shooting wide across the goal.
Charlton continued to fight in the second half and United struggled to extend their lead, lacking the fluency they normally display. At 1-0 Charlton carried the threat of an equaliser and United looked nervous. Ferguson replaced Giggs with Larsson hoping to inject some movement into the team.
Again Charlton went close, a Rommedahl free-kick just going wide of the post and it wasn't until the final 10 minutes that United finished the game as a contest. Again Larsson and Rooney linked up, exchanging passes and leaving Rooney with sight of goal. His shot was parried by Carson and as he received the rebound and was closed down by the Charlton defence, Rooney sent the ball to the far post where a diving Fletcher headed in.
United will be grateful to have been able to rotate the squad and still take all 3 points although they made much harder work of it than was necessary. They face Reading in the FA Cup in a week's time where again players will be most likely rested, ready for the trip to Lille in the Champions League.
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