Varney at the double for Addicks
Alan Pardew's side recovered from last week's loss to Scunthorpe United with a win against their promotion rivals
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Friday, 08, Feb 2008 10:23
Charlton Athletic have boosted their promotion hopes with a 2-0 win over rivals Crystal Palace at the Valley.
Two second-half goals from Luke Varney were enough to move the Addicks into second place in the Championship table.
The defeat for Neil Warnock's side in the south London derby extends their winless run to three games, leaving them in seventh spot.
Alan Pardew's side dominated the first half but were kept out by an inspired Julien Speroni in the Palace goal.
First, Speroni pulled off a stunning point-blank save to keep out Greg Halford's header following a corner. Then the Argentine keeper showed remarkable reactions to keep out Zheng Zhi's low strike seven minutes later.
Speroni was well-beaten five minutes before the break when Varney fired a curling effort against the post with the ball rebounding to safety.
The Eagles' best chance of the half fell to Ben Watson who unleashed a 25-yard effort which flew narrowly over the bar.
Warnock's men improved after the break with debutant Neil Danns' effort from the edge of the box palmed away by Nicky Weaver.
But the home side broke the deadlock on 59 minutes when they were awarded a debatable free-kick, with Andy Gray's flick-on falling to Varney who fired into the corner.
Three minutes later, Speroni again denied Pardew's men with a fine save to block's Gray's low effort.
Charlton clinched victory four minutes from time when Varney outpaced John Halls.
The striker turned inside and struck a deflected shot into the corner to make it 2-0, a result which moves his side into the automatic promotion places.