Oxford United suffered their second defeat of the season with a narrow loss at home against Port Vale.
Vale took the lead shortly after Mark Harris was sent off for an off-the-ball incident before Greg Leigh became the hero and villain in stoppage time – scoring a late equaliser before picking up a second yellow card.
Then, with virtually the last kick of the game, Vale picked up the points after being awarded a late penalty. Here are three talking points from the game:
Refereeing Decisions
It wasn’t Oxford’s best display of the season but that can also be said about the man in the middle.
Harris’s dismissal was controversial, to say the least, while his inconsistency with awarding free kicks and bookings (for both sides) was almost laughable.
Vale’s opening goal came from a free kick, which was also a dubious decision, but the U’s failed to defend the set piece either way.
Player Decisions
It wasn’t just the referee that made poor decisions as it was also the case from some of the U’s players.
Harris, for whatever reason in his dismissal, was clearly naive whichever way you look at it, Leigh shouldn’t have lunged in when he was already on a yellow card and the same can be said for Fin Stevens when he conceded a last-minute penalty.
Stanley Mills, who looked lively when he came on, also had the opportunity to take the ball into the corner when the score was level but he opted for a cross, which gave Vale the possession back late on in the game.
Looked Tired but Subs Made a Difference
For the first time this season, Manning’s players looked tired. It’s unsurprising given the way he likes his team to play, or the fact that they ended the game with nine men, but this certainly helped the visitors.
In the second half, Oxford couldn’t get into the opposition territory with any pace and weren’t able to threaten the visitors.
However, Mills and Kyle Edwards looked dangerous on the wings, Josh McEachran protected the middle of the park and Sonny Perkins put pressure on the opposing goalkeeper even when the game looked done and dusted.
