Oxford United continue to search for a first win under Matt Bloomfield as the U’s played out a second successive goalless draw, this time against QPR.
It was a scrappy game of football in tough conditions at Grenoble Road and while it’s a promising point, the gap to safety begins to grow.
Here are three talking points from the game.
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Oxford United Draw Against QPR
Long Shots
Oxford had eight shots on goal against the R’s with only one on target, although QPR had a similar story in front of goal with nine attempts and just two stops from Jamie Cumming.
However, Oxford’s best chances all came from range as the struggles to work the ball in the box continue.
Sam Long was presented with the first opportunity when Cameron Brannagan layed him off on the edge of the box but he fired just over.
Shortly after, Stan Mills had an effort from outside the box but his attempt was wide, before Will Vaulks had a long-range effort which also failed to hit the target.
In the second half, Vaulks saw a half volley from the edge of the box tipped over before Mills was presented with Oxford’s best chance but he sliced the ball over from four yards out from a good Myles Peart-Harris cross.
Clean Sheet
While scoring was once again an issue, Bloomfield does appear to have strengthened the U’s as a defensive unit as they kept a second successive clean sheet.
It was the same back four that drew against Bristol City last time out although Brodie Spencer replaced Michal Helik at the break with Long moving into the middle.
Having kept just three clean sheets all season, the U’s have had two in successive games which again can only be seen as a positive.
Sensible Substitutions
Against the Robins, Bloomfield only made two changes but in this fixture, he was more proactive.
As mentioned, Helik was taken off at the break and Spencer added much more energy and attacking impetus from the right-back role.
Will Lankshear and Mills has put one hell of a shift in so were replaced by Mark Harris and Matt Phillips although, as a result, they lost some pace after the changes. There was also a debut for Jamie McDonnell for Vaulks but he was thrown into the thick of things.
The final substitute was Siriki Dembele coming on for Peart-Harris, although there wasn’t long enough to make a real impact.
Featured image courtesy of IMAGO / PRiME Media Images
