Bristol City 1-1 Charlton: Late Charlton equaliser seals point

Harry Lennon fired a stoppage-time equaliser to earn Charlton a precious point in a 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw with fellow strugglers Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The central defender broke City hearts with a right-footed volley from 12 yards during four added minutes after his side had been outplayed for long periods.

Nathan Baker had headed the home team in front during first-half stoppage-time, rising at the far post to meet Luke Freeman's right-wing corner.

But Steve Cotterill's men squandered a second-half penalty and countless scoring chances, having dominated possession for most of the game.

Charlton's Reza Ghoochannejhad tested City goalkeeper Frank Fielding with a second-minute shot, but it proved the only goal attempt from the visitors in a one-sided first half.

The hosts soon took charge, with Jonathan Kodjia heading just over from an Elliott Bennett cross.

Joe Bryan twice went close for rampant City, bringing a fine 13th-minute save from Stephen Henderson and seeing a well-struck volley from a Bennett cross flash wide.

Henderson was not to know that Aaron Wilbraham had been flagged marginally offside when producing a tremendous diving save from the striker's header.

Charlton suffered a setback on 31 minutes when centre-back Alou Diarra limped off to be replaced by Naby Saar as his replacement.

The visitors' defence was soon under pressure again as the dangerous Kodjia miscued a volley wide from Marlon Pack's pass.

A thrilling run down the right by Kodjia ended with a pull-back into the path of Wilbraham, but Saar got a vital touch and the striker fired over.

Charlton made a second substitution at the break, sending on Tareiq Holmes-Dennis for Jordan Cousins.

A third change was made by the visitors when El-Hadji Ba replaced Ricardo Vaz Te on 55 minutes just after Kodjia had headed over with City exerting non-stop pressure.

A rare Charlton break saw Simon Makienok shoot tamely at Fielding when he might have done better but City had a great chance to double their advantage soon afterwards.

Kodjia was pulled back by Lennon, having turned inside the box. After some hesitation, referee Oliver Langford pointed to the spot, but Pack blasted the penalty against the crossbar and Charlton were reprieved again.

Fielding had not seen much action, but did well to parry a low drive from Ghoochannejhad as Charlton sensed the chance of an undeserved point.

Ghoochannejhad volleyed over from another chance late on while, at the other end, Bryan and Freeman had shots blocked before Lennon's strike stunned home fans.

Charlton interim boss Karel Fraeye:

"We come away with a good feeling after scoring so late. I am sure Bristol will feel they deserved more and I have to agree with that.

"As my skipper said to the players after the game, this can be a turning point mentally for the team because we have given away late goals in the past."

Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill:

"It's very difficult to know what to say to the players. Charlton have ended up getting a point they never deserved.

"The boys are giving me everything. If we had won four or five nil, which we should have done, people would have gone away saying how well we had played."