Oxford United recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season with a 3-1 victory on the road at Preston.
Goals from Michal Helik, Will Lankshear and Ciaron Brown sealed a vital win to move the U’s out of the bottom three for the first time since November.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Read More: Team News, Form and Predicted Line-Up as Oxford United Travel to Preston
Oxford United Win at Preston
Set Piece Goals
When Michal Helik gave Oxford a fourth-minute lead, it was the fourth consecutive set-piece goal for Matt Bloomfield’s side.
It came from a deep Cameron Brannagan free kick before the Pole chested the ball down and bundled it home.
While Oxford’s second didn’t come from a set-piece, the third did when Myles Peart-Harris saw his long throw flicked on by Helik towards his centre back partner in Brown who poked home the third.
Oxford’s main threat of goals continues to come from set-pieces and now that they are starting to convert on a more regular basis, it’s only a good thing as they look to avoid the drop.
Second Half Goals
Oxford headed into the break level after Preston equalised just six minutes after Helik’s opener and that would have been a cause for concern having scored just nine seconds half goals this season.
This was the lowest of any side in the second tier but the U’s netted twice to help them secure the win.
Over the course of the campaign, Oxford have often started well but ended poorly, so having a consistent display in both periods is also a key improvement.
Back-to-Back Wins and Out of the Bottom Three
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, this was the first time the U’s have recorded back-to-back victories this season, which moves them out of the bottom three ahead of the Saturday fixtures.
The last time Oxford recorded successive wins was in January 2025 under Gary Rowett so putting that to bed with just ten games remaining is another important milestone ticked off.
As is the case with moving out of the drop zone. The U’s have occupied a bottom-three spot since November. Rowett’s side moved up to 20th spot with a win over Ipswich but a defeat against Swansea the following week dropped them back down.
The U’s will be hoping to maintain this momentum as the season reaches its climax.
Featured image courtesy of SmartFrame/News Images
