Charlton have a point but Niemi saves the day

Southampton 0 Charlton Athletic

Worry has come early to Southampton and Charlton are far from easy in their own minds. Yesterday, at the St Mary's Stadium, neither had the courage or wit, let alone the ability, to do anything more than settle for the avoidance of defeat. It made for an afternoon of almost unrelieved frustration.

It was obvious that both teams had wanted to use the match to rid themselves of the embarrassments that had befallen them in their immediate previous appearances without taking risk. Charlton had not only lost 3-0 to Arsenal but been forced to admit that all they shared with the champions was the pitch. As for Southampton, their single-goal defeat at West Bromwich may have been caused by a dithering fumble by goalkeeper Paul Jones, but it revived thoughts that this could become another of those edge-of-the-abyss seasons that they comfortably avoided last time around.

Jones paid for his error by being relegated to the substitutes' bench and was replaced by the Finn Antti Niemi who, making his debut, was not given much early confidence as Southampton regularly lost midfield possession. Richard Rufus was given a free header, admittedly from an offside position, and Jonatan Johansson had an on-target drive deflected away before Southampton woke up.

Steadily, though not excitingly, South-ampton gained some momentum, mainly, and predictably, through the thoughtful interventions of Marian Pahars.

A mellow, unremarkable first half ended suddenly with a glimpse of the sun and a splash of colour on the pitch. A corner from Fabrice Fernandes was powerfully headed by Jo Tessem into what seemed to be a large target area high to the right of Dean Kiely, who leapt but failed to reach the ball, but Chris Powell headed off the line.

Niemi, who spent a month on loan at Charlton from Hearts last year, had not been over-exerting. That changed when he had to dive and touch away a fierce free- kick from Claus Jensen, who had begun to celebrate what seemed a sure goal.

Southampton approached the second half far more intent on retaining possession. Pahars built some bright attacks and Tessem began to lead the front line with intrusive power. Even so, when after 55 minutes Rory Delap thumped the ball across the penalty area, it screwed away from Tessem's outstretched foot. Nevertheless, the concerted Southampton attacks had Charlton defending at length.

The rigidity and basic timidity of the 4-4-2 formations employed oppressively by both sides made concern about losing take priority over more positive thoughts. At least in the final 15 minutes Southampton introduced James Beattie, but still the finishing let them down.

Both Tessem and substitute Anders Svensson failed to take advantage of an inviting low centre. Gordon Strachan admitted: "That's been our problem. We keep being a final touch away in the box. That's down to ability, not bad luck."

Charlton's relief was turned to late hopes of victory when Chris Bart-Williams cracked the best long shot of the game. Niemi fell and importantly stifled the drive – important for him and Southampton. The same might be said of Charlton's hard-won point, but the overall standard of individual skill and teamwork was painful to behold.

All that Alan Curbishley could say in apology was: "After two defeats we needed points on the board."