Three days after Alexis Mac Allister won the World Cup with Argentina, his Brighton team-mates were on the wrong end of a penalty shoot-out defeat. The stakes may not have been as high, but Brighton still came through at League One Charlton in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
While Mac Allister partied in Buenos Aires, having been given a fortnight off following his heroics in Qatar, the rest of the Brighton squad faced a far less attractive trip to cold south-east London when their domestic season resumes.
And after Charlton goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer saved Moises Caicedo’s penalty, Sam Lavelle hit the winner as Charlton reached the quarter-finals 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw .
These are tough times for Charlton, the former Premier League side who now sit 18th in League One after appointing their fifth manager in less than two years, Dean Holden, 24 hours earlier.
They were almost behind in the first five minutes when Lewis Dunk headed wide a Solly March corner. Adam Lallana filled the position that Mac Allister plays for Argentina in this Brighton team, but that is sure to change once the 23-year-old returns from his break.
However, former England international Lallana almost opened the scoring in dramatic fashion when he collected Tariq Lamptey’s square ball, turned and hit the crossbar from 20 yards. But Charlton also had their chances in the first half, Jack Payne cutting inside and firing a low shot straight at Jason Steele in the Brighton goal.
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Steele then came out bravely to deny Miles Leaburn, the teenage son of former Charlton striker Carl Leaburn, who was booked for his challenge on the goalkeeper, before Dunk slid in to block Steven Sessegnon’s goal-bound shot.
Roberto De Zerbi sent on another of his World Cup contingent, Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma, at the start of the second half to try and find some urgency.
It had an effect as Maynard-Brewer had to quickly tip home Levi Colwill’s header before March overcame a couple of challenges in the box only to slot home his header. However, it remained deadlocked and Steele looked set to be the hero of the shootout, saving himself from George Dobson and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.
But when March shot over and Caicedo’s effort was saved, Lavelle stepped up to put the underdogs through.
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup for the first time since 1994 with a comfortable 4-1 win over Blackburn. Wales international Brennan Johnson scored twice on his return to action after the World Cup, while Jesse Lingard and Taiwo Awoniyi were also on target.