City rue Newton's law of rebound

Manchester City, never a club to take more than one step forward without the likelihood of a major pratfall, found themselves back in second place in the table yesterday, but more by default than any grand surge of inspiration.

This was their sixth match without a win, which hardly warranted the huge cheer that went up when the home supporters discovered that Ipswich Town had lost at home to Norwich City. With Barnsley, Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town all crowding in behind, both Manchester City and Ipswich fans face an anxious time up to and including Easter.

Charlton, by some way the best team in the division this season, will surely go up as champions, and they had the more clearcut chances to have won yesterday, although with 20 minutes left their manager Alan Curbishley would have settled for the point.

But with a crowd of more than 32,000 again at Maine Road, and with the match being shown live on Sky, neither team was in a mood for expediency. "Both sides wanted to win, whereas in recent times the teams coming here have put everybody behind the ball," said City's manager Joe Royle, who believes his side have come out of a lull and now need "a kiss from Lady Luck".

Both goals certainly enjoyed a huge slice of fortune. Dean Kiely had made a brilliant save from a Jamie Pollock header before Charlton believed they had taken the lead when Andy Hunt headed in Shaun Newton's cross, only for John Robinson to be adjudged offside.

With Charlton still cursing, City pounced when Shaun Goater swung a boot at Ian Bishop's parabolic through-ball, arrived a touch early and shinned a lob beyond Kiely, who was prepared for something faster and lower.

It was imperative that City did not concede a goal before half-time, thereby increasing the certainty that they would; such are the laws of physics peculiar to Maine Road.

Robinson's shot was going to some remote area, harmless to Nick Weaver, when it struck Newton somewhere in the region of his shoulder to take an immense diversion which left the City goalkeeper, as one music hall comedian used to say, "stood standing".

Charlton, whose run of 12 consecutive First Division victories ended against the bottom side Swindon Town in their previous match, looked rather more vulnerable at the beginning of the second half.

Both Jim Whitley and Robert Taylor, the latter returning after injury, should have scored. Whitley made the wrong decision to try one extra pass to Goater, while Taylor's lack of match sharpness saw him scuff a shot with the goal gaping.

Thereafter it was Charlton, who have a 13-point lead over City, who created the better openings. Newton tried a shot when the better option was a pass to Mathias Svensson, and then Martin Pringle, on for Svensson, wasted two more openings.

There was no doubting the raw excitement of chances made and chances squandered, and both managers were pleased with their respective sides' efforts. But there really was not much in the way of quality - certainly not the sort of quality that would sustain either team for longer than one season in the Premiership.