Charlton × Preston NE · Championship

Charlton Athletic beat Preston North End 1-0 in the Championship on Saturday 29 August at 15:00 BST. Karlan Grant scored the only goal of the afternoon on 56 minutes, and no other name made it onto the scoresheet. A single strike separated the sides at the final whistle, with Preston unable to muster the reply that would have taken something out of the game.

Goalless at the interval, this was a match decided by one moment just before the hour. Grant's goal turned a stalemate into a lead, and from there Charlton had a simple brief: hold what they had. They did, seeing out the rest of the second half without conceding. The scoreline is honest about the afternoon rather than flattering; there was one goal in it, and one goal was enough.

Filed for the record: Charlton 1-0 Preston North End at The Valley, Karlan Grant on 56 minutes, a Saturday afternoon in the Championship at the end of August. Anyone coming to this fixture later will find a lean scoresheet, a second half that carried the whole story, and a home win built on the narrowest possible margin.