Charlton Secures Third Straight Win in Championship with 2-1 Victory Over West Ham
Charlton made it three wins from three in the Championship and turned up the heat on Nuno Espirito Santo with a fierce 2-1 victory over West Ham in a breathless London derby at a restless London Stadium.
Lloyd Jones set the tone with a spectacular early opener, Tyreece Campbell added a ruthless second, and while debutant Joel Piroe dragged West Ham back into it, Taty Castellanos’ stoppage-time penalty crashing off the post left the home crowd stunned and seething.
Jones overhead kick stuns West Ham
The hosts, widely tipped for promotion before a ball was kicked this season, never settled. Charlton did.
Seven minutes in, Sonny Carey hurled a long throw into the box. Jones, the Charlton captain, cushioned it on his chest and, with his back to goal, improvised an overhead finish that flew past Mads Hermansen. One chance, one goal, and West Ham were chasing.
The Hammers tried to respond. Manor Solomon cut inside and let fly from the edge of the area, only for Billy Koumetio to throw himself at the shot and divert it behind with a brave header.
Charlton, though, carried the sharper edge on the break. Campbell robbed Kyle Walker-Peters and sent Miles Leaburn charging forward; his effort clipped the crossbar in the 19th minute with Hermansen beaten. It felt like a warning.
Carey then burst through on the right but went for goal at Hermansen’s near post instead of sliding the unmarked Campbell in on the left. A let-off for West Ham, and the home support knew it.
Right on the stroke of half-time, West Ham finally worked a clear opening. Ollie Scarles whipped in a teasing cross from the left, Castellanos met it first time with his head, but directed it straight at Arthur Okonkwo. For a debutant keeper, it was the kind of save you want early: clean, reassuring, and loudly cheered by the travelling fans.
Campbell punishes Mavropanos as Charlton seize control
Any hope of a West Ham surge after the interval evaporated when Charlton struck again.
In the 56th minute, Konstantinos Mavropanos hesitated under pressure from Leaburn and was stripped of the ball. Campbell pounced, drove into the box and drilled a precise finish across Hermansen into the bottom-right corner. Clinical, cold, and fully in keeping with Charlton’s night.
That finally woke West Ham up.
On the hour, Piroe, on loan from Leeds and handed a start on debut, forced Okonkwo into his first major intervention. The striker’s low drive from the edge of the box looked destined for the corner until the keeper flung out a strong right hand to turn it away. Moments later, another Scarles cross found Castellanos, whose header flashed just wide.
The pressure built, the noise rose, and Charlton’s back line dropped deeper.
Piroe strikes, Okonkwo stands tall, drama at the death
The breakthrough for West Ham came in the 74th minute. Castellanos’ shot was only parried by Okonkwo and Piroe, who had just squandered a close-range header, reacted fastest to slam the rebound home. A debut goal, a lifeline, and suddenly the game tilted.
Charlton wobbled. West Ham poured forward.
Okonkwo, signed on loan from Wrexham only on Thursday and thrown straight into the XI, kept Charlton’s lead intact with a superb tip-over to deny substitute Divine Mukasa, another new arrival on loan, this time from Manchester City. It was an outstanding piece of goalkeeping, fingertips just enough to send the ball over the bar.
Nathan Jones’ side still had chances to kill it. Joe Rankin-Costello broke clear and fired at goal, only for Hermansen to block with his legs. One end, then the other, and the clock ticking into stoppage time.
Then came the moment that could define Nuno’s week.
Referee Andrew Kitchen pointed to the spot after ruling that Conor Coventry had handled inside the area. Up stepped Castellanos, with 62,000 fans holding their breath. He went low to the right. The ball smacked the base of the post and flew away.
The groan from the stands told its own story. West Ham beaten, Charlton perfect, and Nuno left to talk about pressure and process on a night when Charlton’s organisation, ruthlessness and defiance said far more than any soundbite.
