Charlton begin brightly to a game which Barnsley ended with 9 men and their early dominance was capped with a goal after just 4 minutes as Bradley Pritchard had a tap in from 6 yards after Jason Steele spilt Yann Kermorgant's shot.
Barnsley struggled to make any impact on the game and Charlton deservedly doubled their lead in the 19th minute after their captain Johnie Jackson sent two Barnsley defenders the wrong way with a superb piece of skill before slamming home with his unfavoured right foot, his 10th goal of the season.
Charlton continued to press and Steele was forced into some fine saves before the break, Barnsley did however create a clear cut chance before half time as early substitute Jason Scotland found Jacob Mellis on the edge of the box but his shot was cleared of the line.
After the break, it was all one way traffic as Charlton ensured the game was won in the 48th minute as Kermorgant met Rhoys Wiggins cross to head home from 6 yards. Another Steele error led to Charlton's fourth as Callum Harriott hopeful shot from 25 yards was pushed into the net from Barnsley's skipper.
This was quickly followed by Barnsley's first red card of the game, Stephen Dawson fresh off the bench lunged into one and was deemed to have gone over the top off the ball and the red card was shown in the 63rd minute.
Charlton didn't let up as Salim Kerkar scored with his first touch of the game from the ever impressive Ricardo Fuller's lay off. Barnsley then found themselves down to 9 men with Tom Kennedy being adjudged to be the last man as he brought Fuller down who was bearing down on goal.
Just to compound Barnsley's misery, Ricardo Fuller capped off an incredible individual display with a goal for himself, curled into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to an almost empty Oakwell.
The result left Barnsley 23rd in the Championship two points from safety with four games remaining, whilst Charlton's surge up the table continued as they moved up to 10th.
