Charlton Athletic moved to the top of the early Championship picture with a 2-1 win at West Ham United, increasing the pressure on Hammers manager Nuno Espirito Santo after a dramatic London derby at London Stadium.
Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell gave the visitors a two-goal lead before Joel Piroe scored on his West Ham debut to set up a tense finish. The hosts were then awarded a stoppage-time penalty, but Taty Castellanos struck the base of the right-hand post as Charlton held on for all three points.
West Ham, who were widely regarded as pre-season promotion favourites, handed debuts to Piroe and Arne Engels. However, they struggled to seriously test Charlton goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo during the opening half.
Okonkwo was brought straight into the Charlton team after joining the club on a season-long loan from Wrexham on Thursday, and he enjoyed a composed start in south-east London.
The Addicks took the lead after only seven minutes. Sonny Carey’s long throw found Jones, who controlled the ball on his chest before producing an overhead finish that flew beyond Mads Hermansen.
West Ham threatened to respond when Manor Solomon’s effort from the edge of the penalty area appeared to be heading towards goal, only for Charlton centre-back Billy Koumetio to head it behind for a corner.
Charlton came close to extending their advantage in the 19th minute. Campbell dispossessed Kyle Walker-Peters to launch a counter-attack, with Miles Leaburn’s effort clipping the crossbar.
Carey was later denied by Hermansen at the goalkeeper’s near post, although Charlton had created the better opening as Campbell was available on the left side of the penalty area.
West Ham’s best opportunity of the first half came in stoppage time. Castellanos met Ollie Scarles’ cross from the left with a first-time header, but the effort went straight at Okonkwo.
Charlton doubled their lead 11 minutes after the interval. Konstantinos Mavropanos lost possession under pressure from Leaburn, allowing Campbell to finish calmly across Hermansen and into the bottom-right corner.
Okonkwo was finally forced into a significant save shortly after the hour mark, using one hand to keep out Piroe’s shot from outside the penalty area. Castellanos then headed narrowly wide from another dangerous delivery by Scarles.
West Ham increased the pressure as they searched for a way back into the match. Piroe had already missed with a close-range header, but he made no mistake in the 74th minute, driving the ball into the net after Okonkwo had parried Castellanos’ initial effort.
The Charlton goalkeeper was central to the visitors’ resistance once again when he tipped an effort from West Ham substitute Divine Mukasa over the crossbar. Mukasa had joined on loan from Manchester City earlier in the week.
Charlton had an opportunity to restore their two-goal advantage when Joe Rankin-Costello broke through, but Hermansen kept out his shot with his legs.
West Ham were handed one final chance in stoppage time after referee Andrew Kitchen awarded a penalty for handball against Conor Coventry. Castellanos took responsibility, but his spot-kick struck the base of the right post, allowing Charlton to celebrate a perfect start to their Championship campaign.
