Oxford United bowed out of the FA Cup in devastating style with a 6-2 defeat on the road at Coventry.
The Sky Blues were simply too good for the U’s despite a best effort from a depleted side.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Line-Up and Formation
Des Buckingham stuck with a back five but there were two notable absentees from the starting line-up.
First, James Beadle didn’t make the matchday squad with Simon Eastwood replacing him, raising questions about his future. Secondly, Elliott Moore was missing through illness, with some murmurs on social media suggesting he could be off (we’ll address these in another article).
Oisin Smyth kept his place in defence along with Ciaron Brown while Jordan Thorniley replaced Moore.
The rest of the line-up was the same as against Charlton; Josh McEachran and Marcus McGuane behind Cameron Brannagan and Ruben Rodrigues with Mark Harris up top.
Discipline
Having fallen behind early, Mark Harris managed a quick-fire equaliser but the U’s then shipped a further two goals inside 17 minutes.
Despite a fairly combative first half, Oxford picked up several unnecessary bookings. Brannagan, Rodrigues and McEachran all went into the book, with the latter lucky to stay on the pitch following a second late challenge.
Granted, they regained their composure (in terms of discipline) after the break but the game was already well out of reach.
Substitutions
Buckingham made a double switch at the break, with Stanley Mills and Billy Bodin replacing Smyth and McEachran. This meant the U’s switched to a back four.
But after conceding a fourth from the penalty spot, the game was certainly over and Brannagan and Rodrigues, who had already been booked, were replaced with some important fixtures coming up.
James Henry and Tyler Goodrham came on, with the latter reducing the deficit, before Gatlin O’Donkor replaced Harris with five minutes remaining.
It’s still clear that Buckingham has little options to choose from when making changes. Goodrham and Mills have only just come back from injury, although the latter was taken off on a stretcher late on.
