Bowyer’s joy is Taylor-made
LEE BOWYER hailed the mental strength of Lyle Taylor as he helped Charlton make it two wins from two back in the Championship.
Addicks boss Bowyer considered not playing his star striker after the 29-year-old was the subject of four rejected “life-changing” bids from Brentford last week.
But Taylor told him he was “here to score goals and win games” and that is what he delivered against an out-of-luck Stoke.
Bowyer said: “Earlier on in the week I considered not playing him. I did not think his head would be right.
“But on Friday, I spoke to Lyle and if he had said, ‘Bow, I can’t play’, I would have respected that.
“You have to remember the opportunity that was being thrown in front of him was a life changing opportunity for him, so I could understand how it could have messed his head up a little bit.
“But he said, ‘No, I’m ready. I want to play and I am here to score goals and win games’.
“And he was no different. He gave me everything. It was just another Lyle Taylor day.”
That Taylor day consisted of scoring the opening goal and a crucial assist for the third.
West Brom loanee Jonathan
Leko picked out Taylor on the left and he took one touch inside before rocketing a shot that flew through the hands of keeper Jack Butland.
Stoke striker Scott Hogan was denied a debut goal when his 34th-minute effort hit the bar.
But Tom Ince levelled moments later when he latched on to Lee Gregory’s flick to fire past Dillon Phillips at his near post from 20 yards.
The Potters were almost gifted the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Tom Lockyer’s underhit pass to Chris Solly opened the door for Gregory, but his curling right foot shot hit the post.
Gregory then missed an absolute sitter four minutes into the second half, when he ballooned over Sam Clucas’ pull back from 10 yards.
It proved costly as Chuks Aneke put Charlton ahead from a near identical position from Josh Cullen’s 75th-minute cross.
Charlton sealed victory when Cullen fizzed in a corner low to the feet of Taylor who flicked the ball to Connor Gallagher to rifle a first-time shot into the roof of the net.
Frustrated Stoke boss Nathan Jones said: “This is a difficult place to come but we created enough to have won the game.
“We hit the bar, we hit the post and missed chances in the first half and in the second half miss a glorious chance then get hit with a sucker punch.
“That is the frustrating thing when you look at it. We created 10 chances and scored one and they had four and scored three.
“There were a lot of positives about the performance and how we came out of the blocks – but we really need to take our chances.” CHARLTON STOKE 3 ........ Shots on Target ......... 3 1 ......... Shots off Target .........8 1 .................Corners .................4 10................. Fouls ................... 11 1 ................ Offsides ................. 3 76.2 .. Passing Success ..... 81.1 362....... Total Passes ......... 412 46.5 .......Possession ........ 53.5 44.6 . Territorial Adv%... 55.4