Robson Lands a Triple Whammy

Bryan Robson was loth to admit that last Saturday's defeat by Plymouth was the worst display during his short reign at Sheffield United but last night he rushed straight to press room after this emphatic victory, only to find that only one journalist had been able to match his speed.

The manager's eagerness was understandable, for this success away to one of the Championship's promotion favorites was a triumph of Robson's tactics. Charlton's previously perfect November - four wins from four games and no goals conceded - has been born of Alan Pardew's decision to switch to a 4-5-1 formation, but Robson explained how he had devised a more than effective antidote.

"I changed the system to match Charlton's five across the middle and the players reacted very well considering they hadn't had much time to prepare," said Robson, once the rest of the press pack had caught up with him. "James Beattie was particularly outstanding. When you play like that you need your center-forward to really work the line and he did just that, showing a real team ethic."

It was Beattie who opened the scoring, claiming his 12th goal of the season from a penalty after Jerome Thomas had brought down David Carney. Charlton had been dominant until then but, having fallen behind, they suddenly lost their swagger and allowed United to take the upper hand.

Pardew reverted to 4-4-2 for the second half and although his team applied serious pressure, forcing two wonderful saves from Paddy Kenny, they remained vulnerable to the counterattack.

A breakaway led to a Keith Gillespie corner that triggered chaos in the Charlton defence and allowed Gary Cahill to prod United further ahead from close-range. Another late counter led to Beattie shunning a chance to increase his own tally and instead he slipped a fine ball through to Chris Armstrong to make it 3-0.

"Sheffield United have some great individuals but they have not really played as a team unit this season - until now," rued Pardew.