Tyreece Campbell Leads Charlton to Victory Over Derby
Tyreece Campbell’s sharp start to the season shows no sign of slowing down. With 10 minutes of normal time left at The Valley, the 22-year-old cut across the game and settled it with a ruthless swing of his weaker left foot, dragging Charlton from behind to a 2-1 win over Derby and deepening a bruising week for the visitors.
Campbell caps Derby’s dismal week
Derby arrived in south London still reeling from the collapse of Turki Alalshikh’s proposed takeover on Monday. On the pitch, for 45 minutes at least, they looked like a side trying to shut that noise out.
Sammie Szmodics, who had scored in the midweek EFL Cup defeat to Lincoln, struck again here. After a spell where Derby finally got their foot on the ball, he first forced Will Mannion into action with a sharp first-time effort from Joe Ward’s low cross. That warning went unheeded. Moments later, when James Collins’ strike partner was picked out inside the box by Conor Washington Morris, Szmodics made sure, finishing cleanly to give the Rams a half-time lead.
Up to that point, Charlton had been the brighter side.
Nathan Jones’ team started on the front foot. From an early Sonny Carey corner, Billy Koumetio rose well but sent his header wide. Karlan Grant, making his 100th appearance for the Addicks after returning in the summer, stung the palms of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and then created an even better opening, standing up a chance for Carey. The midfielder’s miscued swipe in the 16th minute summed up Charlton’s early wastefulness.
Derby grew into the half, moved the ball with more authority and then struck through Szmodics. But the goal didn’t knock the wind out of Charlton completely.
Before the interval, the hosts forced the Rams into some desperate defending. Curtis Taylor threw himself in front of a goal-bound drive from Danny McNamara, and Zetterstrom had to block with his legs when Campbell tried to sneak one in at the near post. The Valley wanted a penalty when Carey tumbled under a challenge from Lewis Travis, but referee Ben Speedie waved away the appeals and the Rams escaped to the break in front.
Jones rises, then Campbell finishes the job
The second half began with a setback for Derby. Szmodics, who had looked uncomfortable after the warm-up, could not continue and was replaced in the 54th minute by new signing Alex Mowatt. Derby lost their sharpest edge in the final third, and Charlton sensed it.
The equaliser came just after the hour and it was a captain’s moment. Lloyd Jones, fresh from signing a new two-year deal on Friday and wearing the armband in Greg Docherty’s absence, climbed to meet Grant’s delicate, dinked cross from the left side of the area. His header carried power and precision, Zetterstrom beaten as The Valley erupted.
That goal tilted the game. Charlton’s belief surged, even if their goalkeeper still looked anything but settled. Mannion, uncertain under high balls all afternoon, had to fling himself full length to his left to tip Oscar Fraulo’s 20-yard drive around the post, a vital intervention in a nervy spell.
Then Campbell took over.
He had been Charlton’s most dangerous outlet throughout, stretching Derby on the break and driving at full-backs. When the chance finally came, he didn’t hesitate. Cutting in and striking with his left, he produced a crisp, controlled finish to put the south Londoners ahead for the first time.
It was his second goal of the campaign, already just one shy of his entire tally from last season. The leap in confidence was written all over his celebration and, just as clearly, in the way his team-mates swarmed him.
Derby threw what they had left into the final stages. Eight minutes of stoppage time gave them a lifeline, and Morris found one last opening, meeting Max Johnston’s cross. But his effort went straight at Mannion, who clutched the ball and, with it, Charlton’s points.
For Charlton, it was the kind of gritty, momentum-building win managers cherish in August. For Derby, after a failed takeover and another defeat, the questions are only getting louder.
