Charlton 2, Leeds United 4
Leeds manager Brian McDermott hailed Ross McCormack after the Scotland striker scored four times to sink Charlton at The Valley.
McCormack saw his opening two goals cancelled out by a stunning strike from Cameron Stewart and then Charlton skipper Johnnie Jackson 20 minutes from time.
However, a brilliant volley from a tight angle and then a superb free-kick in added time handed Leeds a first win on the road since mid-September in the Sky Bet Championship.
“We’ve been trying to find the best position for Ross because if you give him chances he will score,” said McDermott.
“I’m delighted for him because when they pulled it back to 2-2 it could have gone either way.
“Is he good enough for the Premier League? Absolutely. But we won’t worry about that yet – hopefully he can keep doing that for us.
“It was a good three points for us because we’ve now got back-to-back wins and go into the international break on a high.”
After torrential rain in south-east London, the start was delayed for half-an-hour after a late pitch inspection – but conditions remained tricky for both sides.
McCormack took advantage of a great flick-on from Dexter Blackstock to put Leeds ahead before Stewart’s brilliant volleyed equaliser.
Callum Harriot’s tug on Danny Pugh just after half-time gave McCormack the chance to hammer home his second from the spot before Jackson side-footed home Simon Church’s cross to equalise.
But the stage was set for McCormack to seal the points to leave Charlton boss Chris Powell frustrated.
“We showed some character to come back but McCormack was the major difference in the end between two well-matched teams,” he said.
For McDermott, the result was particularly satisfying as he saw his side end a run of six successive away defeats.
“I’m trying to build something here and I keep talking about that but you have to have the right mentality to win away,” he said.
“In most of the games we’ve been a bit naive but we weren’t here.”
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