Reggae Boy Burton scores twice but Charlton held
LONDON, England (CMC) — Jamaican striker Deon Burton extended his scoring spree by striking twice for Charlton Athletic in the English League One but the hosts gave up a late goal to settle for a share of the points against Millwall in a topsy-turvy South London derby on Saturday.
The veteran Reggae Boy tucked away penalties in the space of seven minutes in the second half as Charlton staged a dramatic recovery to almost earn full points before drawing 4-4.
In the Premiership, Sunderland’s highly valued Trinidadian striker Kenwyne Jones was on target but could not stop his side from losing 4-3 at Manchester City in another high octane encounter.
Burton, one of the architects of Jamaica’s FIFA World Cup debut 11 years ago, came to his side’s rescue after they had fallen behind to a double strike from Steve Morison.
Charlton trailed after just 12 minutes when the 26-year-old pounced on a defensive blunder to slot home and they were left in strife in the 27th minute when he fired in from close range following Marc Laird’s corner.
Burton pulled one back from the spot four minutes later after Dave Mooney was bundled over by Andy Frampton in the area and the 33-year-old was on target again seven minutes from half-time following Nadjim Abdou’s foul on Lloyd Sam.
Inspired by their comeback, Charlton went ahead two minutes after the break through Nick Bailey’s volley but Millwall were again equal to the task, levelling through David Martin’s shot on 81 minutes.
Morison then turned villain when he turned the ball into his own net to give Charlton the lead yet again four minutes later but Danny Schofield saved Millwall with an injury time winner.
Despite dropping points, Charlton remained on course for automatic promotion, four points behind leaders Leeds in second.
At the City of Manchester Stadium, Jones thought he had snatched a share of the points for Sunderland when he evaded his marker at the near post to head home Jordan Henderson’s cross in the 62nd minute, to level the scores 3-3.
But Paraguayan international Roque Santa Cruz got the winner seven minutes later when he knocked home Gareth Barry’s pass. It was his second goal after opening the scoring in the fourth minute, with Argentine striker Carlos Tevez doubling the advantage in the 12th.
John Mensah reduced Sunderland’s deficit in the 16th before Henderson pulled the north-east England side level eight minutes later.
The temperamental Craig Bellamy restored City’s lead in the 35th minute as they went to the break ahead.