Charlton 2 - QPR 0: Tony Watt inspires Addicks win as Charlie Austin fails to shine

Tony Watt (left) celebrates his goal

MORGAN FOX’S wonder strike and a dogged goal from Tony Watt got Charlton off to a winning start against QPR in the Championship.

 

Fox drilled home from the edge of the area to put the game beyond doubt after substitute Watt had opened the scoring early in the second half.

Charlie Austin - a reported £15million transfer target of Newcastle and Tottenham - came closest for Rangers with a glanced header wide.

And it wasn't the striker’s day as he was subbed off moments before Johan Gudmundsson thundered an effort off Rob Green’s crossbar.

 

Addicks Manager Guy Luzon fielded 17-year-old Karlan Ahearne-Grant up front alongside loanee Simon Makienok in a Charlton XI that boasted four new additions.

But the pair struggled to hold the ball up against the experienced Clint Hill and QPR captain Nedum Onuoha, who swept up the infrequent knockdowns.

Indeed, it took 6ft 7in Denmark international Makienok 22 minutes to win his first aerial challenge - so commanding were Rangers’ centre-back pairing.

At the other end Austin showed a flash of his Premier League pedigree just eight minutes in when he dispossessed the towering El-Hadji Ba before drilling a ranged effort narrowly wide of the mark.

 

But it was Tjarron Cherry who got the travelling supporters off their feet when he thundered an Austin knockdown towards goal - only for stopper Nick Pope to palm away.

The half-time break spelled the end of Ahearne-Grant’s afternoon as Watt was sent on to inspire the forward line - and it took the ex-Celtic man seven minutes to do just that.

The 21-year-old cut inside from the left after Makienok kindly stepped over a pass and after dropping his shoulder fired low at Rob Green, whose hand wasn’t enough to prevent the ball spinning over the line.

Austin glanced a header wide in response as QPR picked up their game - Cherry also forcing another good save out of Pope.

Yet Charlton remained in control and centre-half Patrick Bauer should have converted a Johan Gudmundsson corner from the left but instead sent his free header high into the strands.

The home side didn’t have to wait long for their second goal, however, when Fox rifled home from distance. The full-back, hanging 25 yards from goal on the left, collected a loose ball in space and took a touch before somehow squeezing his effort into the bottom far corner.

The goal seemed to stun the Valley faithful as much as the Rangers players, who had just received the introduction of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Alejandro Faurlin in search of a leveller.

Austin came off for Sebastian Polter with six minutes left and QPR nearly conceded another when Gudmundsson rattled a swirling free-kick off the crossbar on a day to forget for Chris Ramsey.