Timothy Ouma Gets First Taste of English Championship as Charlton Maintain Unbeaten Start

Harambee Stars midfielder Timothy Ouma made his English Championship debut as Charlton Athletic came from a goal down to draw 1-1 away to West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday night.

Ouma, who joined the club last month, had played his first game last week when they lost 5-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup, but had to wait patiently for his Championship debut.

The midfielder came off the bench in the 60th minute to replace Karlan Grant and took six minutes to make his presence felt as his effort was headed back into a dangerous area before the home side snuffed out the danger.

By the time he came on, West Brom had just taken a 59th minute lead through Callum Styles but it took Charlton 10 minutes to draw level when Tyreece Campbell levelled matters.

Nathan Jones' Charlton side arrived with a blistering record but found themselves on the defensive for most of the match against a dominant Baggies team. West Brom's persistence finally paid off just before the hour mark when Styles unleashed a powerful strike to break the deadlock.

However, after absorbing relentless pressure, Charlton hit back. Campbell found the net from close range in the 69th minute, snatching a valuable point for the visitors with their first shot on target.

From the outset, it was Albion who dictated the tempo. Felix Horn Myhre headed over just two minutes in, and Ousmane Diakite saw a shot deflected wide following good work from the lively Kareem Tunde on his full debut. Despite controlling possession, the Baggies struggled to create clear-cut chances against a well-organised and resilient Charlton defence.

The second half began in a similar vein, with West Brom immediately pinning Charlton back. It seemed a moment of magic would be needed to breach the Addicks' backline, and it arrived in the 59th minute.

After substitute Rabby Nzingoula forced a fine save from Arthur Okonkwo, Charlton failed to clear the resulting corner, and the ball fell to Styles, who hammered it home from 18 yards to end his 16-month goal drought.

The goal was a just reward for Albion's dominance. Yet, just ten minutes later, Jones' side delivered a sucker punch. A swift counter-attack down the left saw substitute Ivan Mesik cross for Miles Leaburn, who headed the ball into the path of Campbell. The forward made no mistake, firing through a crowd of players to level the score.

In his 30 minutes on the pitch, Ouma had 15 touches as per Flashcore, won three duels and had a pass accuracy rate of 88 per cent.

The Kenyan midfielder will hope to kick on in Charlton’s subsequent matches as his club pushes for promotion to the Premier League, having started the season in brilliant fashion with three wins and a draw which leaves them on third spot in the league with 10 points, same as leading duo Swansea City and Queens Park Rangers.