Oxford united FC
Aaron Ramsey learns ‘harsh lessons’ in Oxford United defeat
Aaron Ramsey’s side showed flashes of quality, there were some bright individual performances from the younger generation of the football club, but there was also fragility – particularly as the game wore on and began to stretch after the break.
I felt there wasn’t a huge amount to separate the two sides in the first half, with the goalless score line a fair reflection of the game.
Oxford weren’t hiding their desire to control proceedings through possession, but without a shot on target to show for it, our chance creation and threat in the final third was limited.
And that was one of the biggest themes of the evening.
Oxford had plenty of the ball, but too often there was a lack of conviction in what we should do with it and when we should do certain things.
There were far too many tentative and indecisive moments in possession, and at times we looked like a team that hadn’t been instructed to have this volume of the ball for a very long time.
And, in fairness, that adjustment was always going to take time.
You are asking a group of players, many of whom were part of our Championship ventures, to go from having 30 per cent of the ball in a game to now comfortably having more than the opposition.
That shift in approach cannot be achieved overnight and definitely not within the space of a single pre-season and four competitive matches.
For a side to go from control, to control with utter purpose and dangerous intent, it requires decisiveness, trust, punch and discipline.
That is not just to unlock opposition teams, but also to reduce teams from hurting them on the turnover.
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Huddersfield’s third goal came from exactly that, Sam Long attempted to play a forward pass from the backline, it was recovered by the opposition and they scored from a fast breakaway with Oxford outnumbered and disorganised defensively.
There were, however, positives to take from the evening.
Mo Missanga made his first league start and showed his quality, particularly with his ability to carry the ball over large distances and drive Oxford up the pitch.
Leo Snowden also looked bright and produced a lovely cut-back for fellow academy graduate Gatlin O’Donkor, who continued his red hot early-season goalscoring form.
So, to suggest that Ramsey’s first competitive defeat was a total disaster would be untrue and, in my opinion, a rash view of what was a difficult evening.
It certainly wasn’t all doom and gloom but there were plenty of harsh lessons to be learnt.
Reading-born duo Gatlin O’Donkor and Mo Missanga scored the goals to secure Oxford’s first win over the Royals in 27 years.
The win sees Aaron Ramsey’s men remain third in the league, three points off top spot with a game in hand.
Here is how we rated the Yellows players at the Kassam…
Simon Eastwood – 7.5
Called back into action after Jamie Cumming’s suspension and secured his third clean sheet of the season.
A notable save to stop Jack Marriott and two others kept Reading at bay.
Peter Kioso – 6
Saw less of his lung-busting runs forward as he was tasked with shuffling into a back three on the ball.
Was a bit hit and miss in his duels and was booked.
Michal Helik – 7
Performed well whilst playing through a knock picked up at Barnsley.
Won his aerial duels and even made it all the way to the opposition by-line at one point.
Ciaron Brown – 6.5
A couple of really incisive passes and was strong in the early stages.
A brief scare when he lofted the ball onto his own crossbar.
Jack Currie – 5.5
Struggled to contain the dangerous Kyreece Lisbie at times.
Inverted his position from the left but did not offer too much going forward.
Cameron Brannagan – 9
Absolutely everything needed from the captain in a derby.
Measured aggression, dangerous from set pieces – assisting directly for O’Donkor before whipping in the corner for the second – and brilliant passing whilst covering lots of ground.
Kai Andrews – 7
Some good footwork, neat passing and clever enough fouls to not get booked yet kill Reading’s momentum.
Aidomo Emakhu – 5
His first few touches let him down which set the tone for his performance.
Completed one successful dribble but squandered a big chance to score in the first half.
Tyler Goodrham – 7
Created one big chance and pulled off some nice flicks and neat turns.
Good delivery from set pieces as well.
Siriki Dembele – 7
A slow first half but won fouls in good areas in the second with some driving runs.
Mark Harris – 6
A quiet afternoon but won the free kick which resulted in the opener.
Substitutes:
Mo Missanga (64′) – 7.5
An impressive, instinctive finish for his second professional goal.
Sam Long (67′) – 6
Gatlin O’Donkor (68′) – 8.5
Goal. Assist. Against the team he was released from as a kid.
What more could you want?
Louie Sibley (79′) – N/A
Brodie Spencer (80′) – N/A
As good an impact off the bench as you can get with the crucial first goal and an assist for the second.
Aaron Ramsey’s inspired substitutions saw Reading-born duo Gatlin O’Donkor and Mo Missanga score to put the U’s four points clear of their Thames Valley rivals.
A stalemate first half saw the Royals force saves from Simon Eastwood and Aidomo Emakhu go close before the Yellows found the quality needed to beat Leam Richardson’s side.
The win sees Oxford beat their county neighbours for the first time since 1999 and go 10 league matches unbeaten.
As Oxford grappled for control early on, it was Reading who hit out first, Kyreece Lisbie with a wicked ball across the face of goal which was not met.
Jack Marriott’s swing at goal moments later was cut out by Kai Andrews before Tyler Goodrham ran into trouble in the box after a neat turn.
Marriott tried again with a tame enough bicycle kick for Eastwood to claim.
A neat move from Jack Currie to Goodrham to Siriki Dembele saw the latter slot Emakhu into the box, but the Irishman was unable to compose himself and finish, Joel Pereira coming out to curtail the threat.
Michal Helik had a weak header saved from a free kick, the Royals retaliating later on as Eastwood parried away a Marriott attempt impressively.
Reading started the second half with vigour, hitting the post with a Padhraic O’Connor header, Eastwood stopping a flick at goal from Lisbie with the rebound.
Marriott headed wide from the resulting corner before Oxford picked up the pressure, Cameron Brannagan forcing a save from a powerful free kick on target.
Some strong penalty shouts followed from the home crowd before a scary moment from Ciaron Brown saw the centre back put the ball onto the top of his own crossbar.
Two inspired substitutes sparked Oxford into life, O’Donkor finding the bottom right corner after a clever short ball from Brannagan at a set piece.
Reading’s Jacob Brown struck the crossbar in response before the Yellows captain forced another save with a second thumping free kick.
The U’s then found their second, O’Donkor heading a deep Brannagan corner square to Missanga who swivelling and flicked the ball into the net.
Oxford now comfortable, they remained safe with the ball but with freedom to push for a third but had to settle for two, seeing out a big three points against their rivals from Berkshire.
Yellows: Eastwood, Kioso (Spencer 80), Helik (Long 67), Brown, Currie, Brannagan, Andrews, Goodrham (O’Donkor 68), Emakhu (Missanga 64), Harris (Sibley 79), Dembele
Royals: Pereira, Godwin-Malife, Dorsett, Rinomhota (Savage 84), Roberts, Marriott (Brown 70), Wing, Kyerewaa (Williams 80), O’Connor, Lisbie, Stokes (Reid 70)
Bookings: Kioso, Sibley; Stokes, O’Connor, Lisbie
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