Oxford United 1-1 Bristol City: Gary Rowett's in-form side frustrated by nine-player Robins

Mark Sykes struck a superb equaliser to earn a Bristol City team that finished with nine men a 1-1 draw at Oxford in Liam Manning's first return to the Kassam Stadium.

The former Oxford midfielder finished off a brilliantly worked free-kick with a 20-yard shot into the top corner from Max Bird's pass.

The draw is a morale boost to the Robins' play-off hopes because they had to play for more than an hour with 10 men after Joe Williams was shown a straight red card in the 31st minute for a bad foul on Will Vaulks.

Ross McCrorie was also dismissed in the 86th minute for a second yellow card when he fouled Ciaron Brown.

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Greg Leigh put the U's in front in the 59th minute with a first-time cross-shot from wide on the left which may have taken a slight deflection off defender Rob Dickie.

Republic of Ireland international Sykes equalised for City six minutes later with a move that appeared to be straight off the training ground.

The point extends Oxford unbeaten run in the Championship under Gary Rowett to nine, but this was the first home game not to produce all three points for him after four successive wins.

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It was Manning's first return to the Kassam since he quit Oxford for Bristol City in November 2023.

Sykes cleverly darted in behind the home defence in the first few minutes, though his cross came to nothing.

A pacy break by Przemyslaw Placheta at the other end finished with Max O'Leary saving Siriki Dembele's shot from a tight angle.

Oxford centre back Ciaron Brown has been in good form this year and the tall defender made a brilliant last-ditch interception to deny George Earthy a shot on goal from close in.

When they ran with the ball, both Placheta and Dembele looked dangerous, but when he was presented with a difficult opportunity, from Mark Harris's flicked pass, Placheta skied his shot well over.

The Pole did better with a shot after cutting in from the right, after Cameron Brannagan picked him out beautifully with a diagonal pass.

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There had been a number of tackles flying in, and when Williams went in ferociously on Vaulks, it provoked a furious reaction from United's players, referee Oliver Langford then calling Williams over to brandish the red.

Manning made two changes at half-time, replacing Nahki Wells and Scott Twine with Bird and Sinclair Armstrong.

Sykes produced a brilliant 25-yard volley that Jamie Cumming turned over the bar in the opening minutes of the second half, and from the corner, Rob Dickie headed narrowly wide.

It was a reminder that, even with a man less, Bristol City had not ruled out thoughts of still winning the game.

The U's still had the edge, though, but found good scoring chances hard to create against a hard-working City outfit.

Leigh's opener looked to be good enough, but it was an outstanding free kick goal to bring the Robins level - and then they dug in to hold out for the draw, even with two players off in the final minutes.

Brown had one late opportunity for the U's, but his glancing header from Hidde Ter Avest's cross drifted wide.

The managers

Oxford's Gary Rowett:

It was frustrating in some ways.

"They're a good team and we know how they set up, and in some ways they're just as comfortable in those situations with 10 men, in those deep defensive positions because they've got three big centre halves who I thought were very, very good today.

"At the start of the game we didn't play with enough composure but we still got into some very good positions.

"Then as soon as they got the red card it kinds of plays into their hands in some ways, in terms of blocking the game up and making it really hard for us to find the space.

"When we played wide quickly we got into good areas, but we were a little bit wasteful with our possession and a little too rushed.

"When you go 1-0 up you expect to control the game.

"We gave one silly free-kick away which gives them one chance and you only need one chance to score.

"The free-kick saw a great dummy to leave the space and Mark Sykes finished it off really, really well.

"Before the game I wouldn't have been happy with a point because we'd won four games out of four at home. We want to win every home game.

"But the way the game went, as soon as they got it back to 1-1, I thought it would be hard to break them down. We needed something to drop for us."

Bristol City's Liam Manning:

"Credit to Pat [Mountain, coach] and the staff. He'd spotted something, they'd worked on it and it was really good composure from Sykesy, who executed it superbly. It was a moment of real high quality.

"Even when you're 11 men you want to see those behaviours.

"I'm not questioning the lads in terms of their resilience, their willingness to run, to fight and compete - the second half epitomised everything you want culturally.

"The lads defended well - that's how we work, to give the players clarity, what to do if we're pressing, knowing what's your role, what's your job.

"Their understanding of what we wanted them to do and their execution of it in the second half was very good.

"I've seen the red card decision back. It's a tough one - a few years ago it's not getting given. It's minimal contact but he is off the ground so he gives the referee the opportunity to make that decision.

"But to me that epitomised the referee's performance. I thought he was extremely poor. He was inconsistent for both sides."

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