Timothy Ouma’s First Championship Start Ends in Disaster as He Gives Away a Penalty in Charlton’s Big Loss

Harambee Stars midfielder Timothy Ouma was handed his first start in the English Championship for Charlton Athletic but it was a game to forget for the Kenyan.

Ouma, who had come off the bench on Wednesday and a week earlier, was thrown into the fray from the start by coach Nathan Jones as Charlton played away to Stoke City, looking to make it four wins out of five.

However, they suffered a 4-0 thrashing with Ouma giving away the opening goal after a foul that led to a penalty.

Jones' side started the match brightly, controlling the opening exchanges, but a 14th-minute penalty decision decisively shifted momentum in Stoke City's favour. The Addicks, who felt aggrieved by several officiating calls, also ended the game with ten men after Danny McNamara received two yellow cards in quick succession.

Facing a packed schedule, Jones made four changes from the team that drew with West Bromwich Albion, giving full league debuts to Oliver Skipp and Timothy Ouma.

The game's complexion changed when Stoke were awarded a penalty as Ouma was penalised for holding in the box, and Justin Devenny calmly sent Arthur Okonkwo the wrong way to give the hosts the lead.

Stoke quickly capitalised on their advantage, doubling their lead in the 22nd minute through Ethan Galbraith with George Hirst putting the game beyond Charlton’s reach with a third just three minutes later. Devenny completed his brace in the 40th minute for a perfect first half in favour of the home side.

Ouma lasted 45 minutes before he was taken off at halftime to be replaced by Conor Coventry and his coach was not impressed by the overall display of his team.

“It’s a gift, it gives them a start that they really needed. We’d started fantastically well, silenced the crowd, the crowd were starting to get on top and they get a gift which changed the game,” Jones said in relation to the penalty.

“The goals we conceded were poor. There were so many bad decisions. When you send a team out across the white line, you are at the mercy of players’ decisions and referees' decisions and that’s what I was today.”

Jones also admits he may have made a mistake by starting two new players in Ouma and Skip in midfield.

“It probably did and I take full responsibility for that. We felt we needed to freshen everyone up. They’ve had a big shift at home, they’ve had a big shift on Wednesday night. We’ve got no time to prepare, we’re on the road, it’s an early kick-off, all those things were contributing factors as to why we felt we needed to freshen it up,” he added regarding his decision to rotate the squad.

Charlton, who had won three games and drawn one before Saturday’s loss, are on 10 points in the Championships, one behind leaders Swansea City.