Aston Villa's determination to confound the sceptics was demonstrated again last night as they recaptured the top spot in the Premiership briefly occupied by Chelsea.
A soft early goal settled this game in which Charlton twice hit the bar late on but suffered another setback in their attempt to confound their own sceptics by avoiding an immediate return to the First Division.
Villa came into the game with their championship self-belief reinvigorated by their epic comeback from 2-0 down to beat Arsenal 3-2 nine days ago. The catalyst for that stirring victory was John Gregory's gamble to bring on Stan Collymore as a third striker alongside Dion Dublin and Julian Joachim.
The triple-play worked so well that last night Gregory, scenting wounded prey in a Charlton team without a win in their previous seven games, decided to "unleash the dogs of war" as he put it, from the start.
Gregory's decision to rest the young defender Gareth Barry and switch from Villa's normal 5-3-2 to 4-3-3 also extricated him from a predicament, because with Collymore moaning about life on the bench and Joachim having scored four goals in the previous four games it was difficult to know whom to leave out.
That Villa went ahead after two minutes and 40 seconds may sound like instant vindication for Gregory's courage but the goal had more to do with pussycat defending than the dogs of war. Dublin took the ball to the right byline in the area and knocked in an innocuous cross which hit the defender Richard Rufus and bobbled into the net past Sasa Ilic.
It was the sort of start Charlton could have done without because they came into this match having lost their last four. They had also scored only three goals in the previous six games. In an attempt to freshen things up, Charlton's manager Alan Curbishley recently replaced Clive Mendonca with Steve Jones.
On the half hour Jones went close when the Welsh international winger John Robinson beat Steve Watson on the left and fired in a low cross which fell at the striker's feet three yards out, but it cannoned off him for a goal-kick.
Jones's partner Andy Hunt also headed just over, again from a Robinson cross, but generally Charlton lacked enough bodies and height in the box to make their possession count.
But Charlton's defence, with the former Villa player Carl Tiler replacing the suspended Eddie Youds, were rarely troubled although Ilic made a fine low save to deny Dublin after 12 minutes and just before the break the striker's overhead shot was headed off the line by Mark Kinsella.
The second half started with a new referee. Gary Willard replaced Steve Dunn who pulled a hamstring, but the delay in sorting out the substitute extended the half-time break to 25 minutes.
Curbishley made use of the extra time to drum it into his players that they must not defend so deep, press Villa better and get more bodies into the their box.
The plan quickly showed signs of working. On 51 minutes Shaun Newton cleverly beat Alan Wright on the right and flashed a shot just wide. Two minutes later the ever-impressive Robinson launched a delicate chip towards the top corner which Michael Oakes tipped over. From the corner, a scramble on the six-yard line ended with Robinson stabbing a shot goalwards which Wright cleared off the line.
Gregory's response was to kennel one of the dogs of war, Collymore, and replace him with the defender Ricardo Scimeca in a more secure 3-5-2 line-up. Charlton responsed by bringing on a third striker, Mendonca.
CHARLTON: Ilic, Mills, Powell, Redfearn, Rufus, Newton (Mendonca 70), Kinsella, Hunt, Robinson, S Jones, Tiler. Subs Not Used: Brown, K Jones, Konchesky, Royce. Booked: S Jones, Tiler, Mills.
ASTON VILLA: Oakes, Wright, Southgate, Ehiogu, Watson, Taylor, Collymore (Scimeca 56), Thompson, Joachim, Dublin, Hendrie. Subs Not Used: Charles, Grayson, Vassell, Rachel. Booked: Watson, Taylor, Thompson. Goal: Rufus 3 og.
Referee: S Dunn (Bristol).
