CHARLTON midfielder Bryan Hughes stepped off the bench to give Alan Pardew the first win of his reign as new Addicks boss.

Villa opened the scoring in the 40th minute when Gareth Barry was brought down by Hermann Hreidarsson and got up to smash home the spot-kick. Charlton were desperate in the first half but emerged with a little more purpose after the interval and were rewarded with Bent's 57th-minute headed equaliser. The Addicks' hopes of securing a first victory under boss Alan Pardew improved after Barry . . . the last defender . . .

was shown a straight red card for felling Dennis Rommedahl just outside the area. And then Hughes arrived to fire the winner just as it appeared Villa had done enough to earn a share of the spoils.

Hreidarsson produced a well-timed tackle on Gabriel Agbonlahor to halt a promising early Villa attack early on and then Steven Davis broke with purpose only to run into a dead end. Charlton were falling foul of the referee Rob Styles' whistle with one freekick leading to a booking for Olof Mellberg and Talal El Karkouri. El Karkouri prodded Mellberg as he was waiting for the free-kick to be taken and the Swedish centre-back reacted by shoving him over. Mellberg was shown a yellow card for the incident and Styles then punished El Karkouri in the same way for his theatrical collapse on the floor.

Villa's defence was unlocked in the 19th minute with Darren Ambrose, who scored in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Fulham, turning Aaron Hughes inside out and then rattling the crossbar with a blistering 20-yard shot. Rommedahl concluded a lively run by setting up Ambrose who charged onto the ball and tested Gabor Kiraly with a well-struck shot.

However, the match was becoming a dreadful spectacle with hit-and-hope shots and some dreadful passing reducing the entertainment value, but it came alive shortly before half-time. Villa should have gone ahead in the 38th minute when Gavin McCann picked out Agbonlahor with a perfect long pass but the 20-year-old, who took advantage of El Karkouri being rooted to the spot, directed his header at the ground and it bounced harmlessly over the bar.

But Martin O'Neill's side could not be denied a heartbeat later, with Styles pointing to the penalty spot after Hreidarsson had brought down Barry. Hreidarsson appeared to make a slight connection with the ball but Barry went tumbling and got up to rifle home the penalty.

Agbonlahor squared a dangerous ball shortly after the interval but Juan Pablo Angel was too far away to take advantage of an absent defence. A dipping effort from Matt Holland sailed wide of the left post and then Hughes, who replaced Radostin Kishishev at halftime, had to leap high at the other end with Angel lurking.

Charlton equalised in the 57th minute with a precision long ball from El Karkouri doing the damage. The Moroccan defender picked out Darren Bent who ghosted behind Mellberg and expertly directed a diving header past Gabor Kiraly for his 10th goal of the season.

With their tails up, Charlton struck another blow in the 60th minute when Rommedahl charged through the midfield only to be brought down on the edge of the area by Barry.

As the last defender, Barry was shown a straight red card and El Karkouri went close with the ensuing freekick. The Addicks then nearly snatched the lead but Marcus Bent was denied by the post and Hughes cleared Darren Ambrose's follow-up off the line.

Charlton pushed forward in search of a late winner and it came on the stroke of full-time through substitute Bryan Hughes. Hreidarsson nodded a deep cross down towards Hughes and the midfielder headed home with Wilfred Bouma desperately trying to keep the ball out of the goal with his hands.