Oxford United vs Stoke City. Sky Bet Championship.
The Kassam StadiumAttendance11,507.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Oxford United and Stoke City at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday | Idris El Mizouni makes it three wins out of three at home for Des Buckingham's U's side.
Saturday 14 September 2024 15:48, UK
Oxford's impressive start to the Sky Bet Championship season continued with a well-earned 1-0 victory against Stoke at the Kassam Stadium.
The U's edged out the Potters thanks to Idris El Mizouni's coolly-taken strike just after half-time, a goal which sealed the hosts' third win from three home games so far this term.
The first league meeting between these two in well over two decades saw a cagey opening spell.
The Potters showed up first, with Million Manhoef seeing a left-footed drive blocked.
Des Buckingham's hosts soon rallied, however, and went close after 12 minutes.
Josh McEachran played a smart ball into Mark Harris, and his powerful strike was well gathered by alert goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.
Tyler Goodrham then tried his luck from distance, with Johansson again equal to the task.
It was swiftly turning into an entertaining end-to-end clash, as back came the Potters with a couple of chances of their own.
Ben Wilmot was denied by a quality save from Jamie Cumming, while Bae Jun-Ho threatened with an angled strike which fizzed narrowly over the top.
The U's had been under some pressure, but they gained a foothold once again as the half-hour mark approached.
Siriki Dembele saw an effort blocked following a smart tee-up by the industrious Harris.
Goodrham saw a shot saved comfortably by Johansson, before the Potters' cause was hindered somewhat when Lynden Gooch was forced off through injury.
However, the U's were similarly hit in first-half added time when Cameron Brannagan also limped out of the action.
Newly-promoted Oxford struck the opening blow within three minutes of the restart.
The goal came at the end of an eye-catching move down the right.
Ruben Rodrigues crossed in low for El Mizouni, and he coolly side-footed home from just outside the six-yard box.
Now with their tails up, the U's almost struck what would have been a fortunate second goal minutes later.
Dembele turned sweetly towards the edge of the Stoke box before seeing a shot divert heftily off a defender before almost looping into the far corner of the net.
Harris was then thwarted by a decent stop from Johansson, with Stoke now looking rattled.
The visitors finally gained themselves some momentum, but any end product was lacking as the game entered its final quarter.
Wouter Burger tried a shot from inside the U's box, but it was blocked and cleared by the hosts' well-organised defence.
It was beginning to look like it was going to be Oxford's day, and it definitely would have been had Goodrham's fizzing strike not been superbly saved by Johansson after 79 minutes.
The hosts went on to hang on to their slender lead comfortably as Stoke's inconsistent start to the season continued.
Oxford's Des Buckingham:
"I hope our fans realise that a lot of really hard work has gone in this victory again today.
"It was an overall performance from the team, and this against a very, very good Stoke team.
"I thought the first half was probably evenly-balanced, but in the second half I thought we were really exciting to watch and that's pleasing for me and our fans.
"We're putting together a way we want to play - I certainly don't want any of my players to be robotic in any way.
"Collectively we've been impressive again, but I also want the players to showcase themselves as individuals when they can. I want them to go out there and play with that freedom and that excitement.
"I suppose that's the kind of coach I am, rubbing off on them. I don't want us to be a boring team to watch."
Stoke's Steven Schumacher:
"This is a result that we could end up regretting because I thought it was a big opportunity for us.
"Our performance wasn't brilliant in the first half, and I said to the lads at half-time that I thought the game was there for us.
"The opposite happened, though, and we concede a poor goal almost immediately after the restart.
"We've talked about these cut-back crosses during training this week, so that's really disappointing from our point of view.
"There are no excuses from us whatsoever, though."
