Colchester 2 Charlton 2

CHARLTON manager Alan Pardew pulled no punches despite watching his side retrieve a 2-0 deficit to earn a point at Colchester on Saturday.

China captain Zheng Zhi spared the Addicks blushes with a 73rd minute equaliser against 10-man Colchester.

But Pardew was less than impressed and said: "I wasn't very pleased with our performance. We're a lot better than we showed today. Not for the first time this season we've had to dig really deep to get something from a game.

"I thought we had improved defensively against Crystal Palace two weeks ago but we were never solid against Colchester. I told the squad at the end of the match that the performance was not good enough for this club."

Colchester took a 32nd minute lead through Mark Yeates which they increased when former Charlton striker Kevin Lisbie rose unchallenged to head home in the 39th.

Svetoslav Todorov scored his third goal in as many games to revive Charlton on the stroke of half-time before the game turned in the 55th minute when Colchester defender Matt Connolly was sent off for bringing down Chris Iwelumo when he was clean through on goal.

Zheng earned the Addicks a point with his first Championship goal in the 73rd minute when he turned smartly to shoot home after substitute Luke Varney, making his debut for the club, headed on.

"I'm just pleased we've got a home game against Norwich on Tuesday when hopefully we'll get this performance out of our system," Pardew added.

Charlton: Weaver, Mills, Fortune, McCarthy, Powell, Ambrose, Semedo, Zheng, Thomas (Reid 46 mins)Todorov (Sam 72), Iwelumo (Varney 68).
Subs Not Used: Randolph, Racon.
Attendance: 5,860.

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