Oxford United dropped points for the first time at home under Gary Rowett after a 1-1 draw against Bristol City.
Liam Manning’s side had to play over an hour with ten men and the U’s took the lead in the second half but former Oxford midfielder Mark Sykes netted an equaliser.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Oxford United Draw Against Bristol City
Wasted Chances
The game started slowly and scrappy but it was Oxford that created the better openings in the early exchanges, despite rarely testing the Robins goalkeeper.
Przemyslaw Placheta had three decent opportunities. First, he blazed over after some good work from Siriki Dembele and Mark Harris before missing the target from a short corner.
The Poland winger did manage a shot on target shortly after but it was right at the goalkeeper.
After the break, Ciaron Brown missed a good opportunity from just ten yards out but Greg Leigh saw an unusual shot bobble into the bottom corner just minutes later to give Rowett’s side the lead.
Oxford ended the game with 20 attempts on the Bristol City goal but just four attempts on target, highlighting how poor they were at finishing at Grenoble Road.
Red Card Changed the Game in Feisty Encounter
After those three chances for Placheta, City were reduced to ten men when Joe Williams was handed a straight red card after coming through the back of Will Vaulks.
Unfortunately for Oxford, that didn’t help the gameplay as the Robins sat back in a low block, and Manning’s men began to frustrate Rowett’s side.
It was a scrappy encounter anyway, with three bookings in the first half and six brandished by full-time. The Robins were reduced to nine men late on but Oxford were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage.
‘Frustrating’
Gary Rowett said the game was “frustrating” in his post-match interview, and that’s a perfect way to describe the afternoon.
The flow of the game was constantly stopped by the referee, City halted Oxford’s game plan and chances were squandered far too often.
The best summary of the word came from Sykes’ equaliser, with Michal Helik giving away an unnecessary free-kick before the former U’s man was free on the edge of the box completely unmarked, despite Oxford having the extra man.
