Abdul Fatawu’s stunning second-half goal earned Leicester a 1-0 Championship victory at Charlton.
The Addicks suffered a first loss at The Valley since December 3 but will feel aggrieved that they did not take one of their 18 attempts – including seven on target – as they once again underlined that the step up from League One has not fazed them one bit.
Leicester headed to south-east London with their last away win on Boxing Day and were indebted to goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk for ensuring they were still on level terms at the break.
The Polish stopper produced an excellent one-handed save to tip over a swerving 30-yard strike by Charlton midfielder Conor Coventry.
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Adbul Fatawu cut in from the right wing to bend a fantastic shot into the top corner and give Leicester the lead at The Valley.
The Foxes struggled to break down their resilient and organised hosts as they missed the creative influence of Bilal El Khannouss, who was left out of the matchday squad as transfer speculation continued to swirl surrounding his future, in the opening 45 minutes.
The Addicks repeatedly won possession in the visitors’ half during the first period but failed to make the most of their counter-attacks, despite plenty of red shirts flooding into their opponents’ penalty area.
Two corners by Coventry caused issues for Leicester at the start of the second half. First Lloyd Jones’ goalbound header was nodded out for a corner by Hamza Choudhury and then Stolarczyk needed to get down smartly at his back post to deny Kayne Ramsay.
Moments later and City had the lead through a moment of class by Fatawu. The right winger cut on to his left foot and whipped a fine finish into the top-left corner of the net past helpless home goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski in the 48th minute.
It was the first goal that the Addicks had conceded in more than nine-and-a-half hours of football, including all of their League One play-off ties.
Charlton’s threat came largely from set-pieces – as they won 13 corners – with another Jones header clipping off Coventry from five yards out, but the ball diverted to the wrong side of the post.
Caleb Okoli produced a crucial block on Greg Docherty’s 81st-minute effort, after the Scot was cued up inside the area by substitute Harvey Knibbs.
It was a first loss for the home side since they won promotion at Wembley but there were plenty of positives in the way they performed against the 2016 Premier League champions.
There was another late chance for the Addicks as the match ticked over into six added minutes but Tyreece Campbell could not keep his header down from eight yards out.
Charlton substitute Joe Rankin-Costello had his shot charged down as Leicester ground out the victory in the first meeting between the two clubs since March 2014.
The managers
Charlton’s Nathan Jones:
“We were dominant. It took a one-in-a-million strike to win the game. If that game was 5-1 it probably would’ve been a fair result.
“They demonstrated that ounce of quality that we didn’t. That is why we are sitting here with no points.
“Our level of performance was outstanding.
“The disallowed goal, I could get myself in trouble, it is an absolute travesty. It is an absolute fairytale. We caused so many problems from set-plays and they were released from jail by an individual that I just can’t comment on.
“If someone did their job today then we’re having a different conversation.
“I have masses of pride for the performance but I am seething at certain elements that happened.”
Leicester’s Marti Cifuentes:
“It was a fantastic goal which summarises really well what Abdul means to us.
“If I had to trust all the rumours and speculation then (head of media relations) Jonny (Lally), you have to start next weekend. There is speculation around most of our players.
“The target is that we arrive on September 1 in a good position with a team that we want to have. There are some key players that we want to keep and Abdul is one of them.
“The most important thing is we took a step forward in terms of the identity and culture I want to bring into the club.
“I saw a team that, despite there being a hundred things we can do better and that is on me, I saw a team that cares. I saw a team that wanted to work hard for each other, that every ball and situation really mattered to them.
“If we had to defend low we defended low – if we had to make a run for each other than we did. The fans were really strong throughout the game helping us – that sets the foundation.”
