Aston Villa’s EFL Trophy campaign came to an end against Charlton Athletic in Round Two at The Valley on Tuesday night.
Mason Burstow put the League One side ahead with 15 minutes on the clock before Finley Thorndike struck back for the Young Lions.
Jayden Stockley’s penalty gave the hosts the lead at half-time, but they were indebted to goalkeeper Nathan Harness by the end of the game.
Fine saves from Tim Iroegbunam and Cameron Archer preserved their lead and ended Villa’s participation in this season’s competition.
Villa journeyed to south London with a 100% record in the group stage, having beaten a trio of League One sides, but they were lucky not to find themselves a goal down after seven minutes.
As the visitors tried to play out from the back, an errant pass by goalkeeper Oliwier Zych presented Burstow with a golden opportunity inside the penalty box, which he could only scuff wide of the target.
Another mistake, this time by Harry Arter in the Addicks’ midfield, allowed Lamare Bogarde to play in Thorndike, who advanced into the box before dragging his effort the wrong side of the post.
Shortly after, Burstow made amends for his earlier miss when he fired home a first-time half-volley from Albie Morgan’s lofted through ball to give Charlton the lead.
The home side had looked fairly comfortable until Villa struck back after 40 minutes, with Thorndike showing great composure to slot home after racing onto Caleb Chukwuemeka’s through ball.
Parity lasted all of two minutes before referee Christopher Pollard penalised Tim Iroegbunam for a foul on Stockley – despite the midfielder taking a sizable piece of the ball with his challenge.
After seeing his side go on the offensive early in the second half, the Villa goalkeeper was left scrambling across his goal when Morgan’s long-range free-kick pierced the wall and skidded onto the post before rebounding to safety.
The away side’s incisive passing and speed was proving tough for Charlton to handle, and when Iroegbunam played a one-two with Thorndike and burst into the box, only an outstretched foot from Harness denied him a goal.
Harness was at his best once again to deny the competition’s top scorer Archer, sliding in to scoop the ball away as the striker waited for a tap in at the back post.
Those chances proved to be the closest Villa would come to getting back into the game as the hosts saw the remainder of the match out professionally, bringing the curtain down on the club’s EFL Trophy run.
Aston Villa: Zych, Ealing, Feeney, Swinkels, Chrisene (Barber 61'), Bogarde, Iroegbunam (c), Thorndike, Philogene-Bidace, Caleb Chukwuemeka (Abldeen-Goodridge 77'), Archer.
Subs: Marschall, Reddin, Sewell, Hart, Afoka.
