Valley high, Houllier low

Charlton Athletic 2 Liverpool

What a way to celebrate an anniversary. Ten years ago, a crowd of 8,337 witnessed Charlton Athletic's emotional return to a Valley of Portakabins and temporary stands, and a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth consolidated their position in the middle of the First Division table. Yesterday, more than three times that number were in attendance at the marvellously revamped stadium to see a piece of local history being made: the first time that Alan Curbishley's side had won four Premiership matches in succession. So here they are, a decade on, sitting pretty as the 11th best-placed club in the country.

That is only seven behind Liverpool, falling fast after one point from five games and cursing their inability to take advantage of Arsenal's lapse yesterday. Too slow to get going, they responded well to Gérard Houllier's half-time demand for greater urgency and should have drawn level in a period of fierce pressure soon after the interval. But ultimately they offered too little protection to Chris Kirkland, the young goalkeeper being given a run of games at last after Jerzy Dudek's gaffes.

"I thought we were very unlucky at times," Houllier said. "In the second half, we had four chances right at the start. I share the players' sadness and I've told them to keep playing like that."

Like the second half, presumably, rather than the first, in which the supposed championship contenders were well off the pace and only one player threatened to spoil Charlton's party: not Michael Owen, who endured a wretched afternoon, and not Emile Heskey, anonymous until he hobbled off just before Charlton went ahead, but El Hadji Diouf. The Senegal attacker's header, brilliantly kept out by Dean Kiely just before half-time, was effectively the start of a belated revival that Charlton repelled with a mixture of good fortune and solid defending.

Before that, Liverpool were in greater debt to Kirkland than would have been expected from a team of their stature. Proud and noisy full house or not, the goalkeeper was never likely to fazed by the occasion – his previous appearances since signing for £8m from Coventry City included an away game at Galatasaray and a Mersey derby. So it proved, from the moment Colin Walsh, the scorer of the first goal on the London side's return home in 1992, had led the teams out.

Kirkland was sure with his handling and positioning, quick off his line and brave, as he demonstrated to painful effect when the onrushing Shaun Bartlett lunged for the ball with him in the 25th minute. Lengthy treatment was needed, while the home crowd chanted "We want Dudek" before, to their disappointment, Kirkland was pronounced fit to resume.

Ten minutes later, he was unexpectedly picking the ball out of his net. Kevin Lisbie, showing the composure that often deserts him, waited intelligently for Gary Rowett to arrive before feeding him for a cross that Jason Euell met with a firm header; Stéphane Henchoz's desperate block was a brief reprieve, the rebound falling for Euell to hit high into the net.

The damage might have been worse. In stoppage time at the end of an increasingly lively half, yet more inattentive defensive work allowed Lisbie clean through on to Scott Parker's pass, Kirkland saving his side by blocking the attempted dink over him.

At the other end, Kiely's save from Diouf had been the only moment to excite the visitors' following, who, like Portsmouth 10 years ago, must have felt like gatecrashers discovering the booze has run out. They perked up briefly after half-time, as Liverpool improved considerably and quickly. Houllier and his assistant, Phil Thompson, were still making their way along the touchline as Owen was sent clear by Danny Murphy's astute pass, only to skew a shot with the outside of his right foot in the direction of the corner flag.

Charlton became reliant on counter- attacks, which suits them well. Lisbie, denied by Kirkland, lobbed the rebound too high and then set up Bartlett to shoot lower, though not low enough. The Liverpool storm was blowing itself out and Charlton, riders on it, broke again. Lisbie kept his head, feeding Paul Konchesky for a volleyed lob arcing precisely over the goalkeeper's 6ft 6in frame.

The crowd, in party mood now, carried their team through to the end, when Curbishley said: "After a week of celebration it's a fantastic victory. Perhaps it was meant to be our day, like it was 10 years ago."

Charlton Athletic 2 Liverpool 0
Euell 36, Konchesky 78

Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 26,694