Charlton 2 Leeds United 1: Redfearn era ends in defeat

The Charlton substitute rose to head home Rhoys Wiggins’ cross and steal the points with a tense match at The Valley five minutes into injury-time.

Luke Varney looked to have earned Leeds a draw with a deflected effort eight minutes from time but Obika’s unmarked finish kept Leeds worrying close to the Championship’s relegation places.

The second 45 minutes in London saw all the action and Charlton brought the contest to life two minutes after half-time when their captain, Johnnie Jackson, snatched the opening goal.

An Andrew Hughes strike deflected kindly off Jason Pearce on the penalty spot, giving Jackson time and space to rifle the ball into the top corner of the net.

Leeds narrowly avoided a further setback moments later as Bradley Pritchard’s cross flashed in front of Lee Peltier’s feet a yard in front of his own goal but Steve Morison was unlucky to see his 62nd-minute shot hit the outside of a post and Michael Tonge had a volley blocked by desperate defending from Dorian Dervite.

United pressed in patches and Tonge drove another attempt high and wide of Ben Hamer’s net but Charlton packed their box and held out until a Peltier free-kick caused a scramble inside the area and Luke Varney fired the ball home.

Chris Solly almost snatched a late win for Charlton, dragging a close-range volley wide and forcing Peltier into a goalline block, but Leeds had no answer when Wiggins’ delivery dropped onto Obika’s head.

Afterwards, Leeds caretaker manager Neil Redfearn was disappointed with the last-minute defeat, but was pleased with the response of the players after Neil Warnock departed Elland Road in the week.

“I thought the performance and application was good, I thought we were unlucky at the finish because we should have got a couple of decisions,” he said.

“From a performance point of view, I thought we went a goal down against the run of play - we were doing well up to that point.

“Whenever the manager leaves, it’s upsetting - these are players that Neil Warnock signed. But they’ve applied themselves well.

“I thought it was good performance without being spectacular, it was a poor surface. They will be disappointed, but they’ve been professional at what they’ve done.”