First-half goals from Jodie Hutton and Katie Bradley put the Addicks ahead at the break, and while an Oona Sevenius strike just after the hour mark provided United with a platform to kick on, they were unable to rescue a point at The Valley.

There were two debuts for United in London, with Kaitlyn Torpey and Ashanti Akpan coming in for Charlotte Wardlaw and Lois Joel, but they were unable to help extend the Lasses' seven-game unbeaten run in the league.

Newcastle found themselves pinned back very quickly in the first half, and a lofted ball to Amalie Thestrup at the back post forced Anna Tamminen to scramble across her line and claw her effort away.

However, Tamminen could do little three minutes later after initially saving Karin Muya's close-range effort; a goalmouth scramble saw the ball land at the feet of Hutton inside the six-yard box, and she made no mistake by firing her effort into the roof of the net.

After that initial setback, United looked to build up some possession, with their increased efforts to get forward paying off when Elisha N'Dow blocked Beth Lumsden's volley, and while the referee waved away penalty appeals, Jordan Nobbs curled an effort towards the far corner but was denied by the diving Sophie Whitehouse.

While the Lasses were pushing for an equaliser, the Addicks broke forward into the box through Muya, who was brought down by Akpan, allowing Bradley to step up and fire home into the bottom corner, sending Tamminen the wrong way.

Oxtoby made a double switch at half time, bringing on Jasmine McQuade and Freya Gregory, with the latter making a swift impact on the game when her low cross from the left allowed Sevenius to run onto the ball and pick out the bottom corner with a first-time finish on the edge of the area.

Despite Newcastle seeing the majority of the ball in the final minutes of the game and putting several dangerous balls into the box, they were unable to test Whitehouse in the Charlton goal and dropped down to fifth in the league.

Newcastle United Women: Anna Tamminen, Demi Stokes (c), Jordan Nobbs, Jemma Purfield, Molly Pike, Kaitlyn Torpey (Jorja Fox 65), Oona Sevenius (Lois Joel 78), Ashanti Akpan (Jasmine McQuade 46), Aoife Mannion, Beth Lumsden (Freya Gregory 46), Emily Murphy (Shania Hayles 65)

Subs not used: Claudia Moan, Małgorzata Grec, Amelia Freeman