If Arsenal have begun 2001 the way they mean to go on then even the idea of finishing runners-up to Manchester United will soon become something less than a comfortable assumption. Yesterday Arsene Wenger's admittedly weakened team looked more like the old year doddering out than the new one gurgling in.
For Charlton Athletic the victory was historic, for most of their followers literally so. The last time Charlton had beaten Arsenal, in March 1956, Sam Bartram was playing his last game in goal, Anthony Eden was Prime Minister and Suez lay in the future.
Then again Manchester United did win the championship that season so what goes around still comes around, even after a time lapse of 44 years. While Jonatan Johansson's header six minutes before halftime decided the contest, the pivotal moment came a quarter-of-an-hour from the end when Dean Kiely kept faith with Bartram's memory by saving a penalty from Nelson Vivas.
Arsenal have had an unfestive season. Five points from five matches is no way to maintain pressure at the top and now they are only second on goal difference from Sunderland, who held them to 2-2 at Highbury on Saturday.
Yesterday the absence of six of Wenger's regular team, with Tony Adams and Thierry Henry the latest casualties, was always going to be troublesome against a Charlton side that has glowed with confidence at home since returning to the Premier League. But as the Arsenal manager said afterwards: "When you lose players you have to forget about the absentees and carry on."
Clearly Wenger is not happy with his team's attitude away from home. "When you play for Arsenal you must fight for every ball and more responsibility," he said. "You can dream about how good you are but the table tells you the truth."
Until Charlton scored with their first chance Arsenal had retained possession often enough to suggest that if the game did not end goalless and guileless they would have the better chance of winning it, probably with a breakaway. Certainly as Claus Jensen and Scott Parker struggled to find a way past Patrick Vieira and Vivas, it was difficult to see how Alan Curbishley's attack would find the net.
Stymied in midfield, Charlton had resorted to high balls towards Johansson and Shaun Bartlett, easy stuff for centrebacks. Yet when a goal did arrive it followed a straightforward centre from the right that Adams or Martin Keown, also missing yesterday, would have cleared without a moment's thought.
Gilles Grimandi, however, did not get a clean header to Radostin Kishishev's cross, enabling Graham Stuart to centre from the left for Johansson to duck between two defenders and nod into the left-hand corner of the net.
With just over an hour gone Silvinho and Pires gave way to Ashley Cole and Tomas Danilevicius, the latter a Moscow-born Lithuanian with a Greek passport. In the 75th minute Mark Fish upended Tomas to give away a penalty in any language and Arsenal's chances of sloping away with a point looked bright.
Yet the apparent unwillingness of anyone to take the kick offered a clue to what followed: Vivas, who drew the short straw, struck firmly enough but at a height which allowed Kiely to pull off an outstanding save.
"It's not about who might or might not have taken the penalty," said Wenger. "You can't hide behind that." For Charlton's part the win confirmed how much Curbishley's team have matured since their first abortive season in the Premier League. But whereas Charlton will be happy to finish in the top half of the table Arsenal would be mortified not to make the top three and next season's Champions League. That, however, is starting to look a possibility.
Charlton: Kiely, Kishishev, Rufus, Todd, Fish, Konchesky, Stuart (Powell 88), Parker (Robinson 79), Jensen, Bartlett (Pringle 80), Johansson. Subs Not Used: Brown, Caig. Booked: Stuart. Goals: Johansson 39.
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Silvinho (Cole 64), Stepanovs, Grimandi (Malz 73), Vivas, Vieira, Parlour, Ljungberg, Pires (Danilevicius 64), Kanu. Subs Not Used: Lukic, Halls. Booked: Parlour. Att: 20,043
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
