Oxford United extended their unbeaten run to seven games but will feel disappointed about dropping points at home against bottom-of-the-league Forest Green.
The U’s dominated the first half and took the lead through an own goal. However, the division’s second-lowest scoring side levelled in the second half.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Line-Up and Formation
There were two noticeable absentees in the starting lineup with Elliott Moore and Marcus McGuane both out.
Moore picked up a slight ankle knock in the FA Cup win over Woking while McGuane was rested, having played plenty of football this season.
Sam Long returned from injury in time to replace Moore at centre-back with Djavan Anderson staying as a right-back.
Lewis Bate and Cameron Brannagan were the midfield duo with Marcus Browne just ahead. There was also a front three of Billy Bodin, James Henry and Matty Taylor.
Tale of Two Halves
As mentioned in the intro, the U’s dominated large parts of the first half and could have found themselves a few goals up inside ten minutes.
The pressure did pay off and Oxford took the lead through an own goal inside 20 minutes, but Henry looked offside in the build-up.
Despite the dominance, Simon Eastwood was called upon and made a couple of top saves before the break.
However, the tide turned after the restart and Oxford struggled to get back into the game before the visitors found an equaliser. The constant stoppages halted any U’s momentum and they were unable to restore their lead, despite ten additional minutes.
Substitutions
When Bodin was forced off in the first half through injury, Tyler Goodrham was the man to replace him in a like-for-like swap.
But in the second half, Henry was starting to tire and Marcus McGuane was ready to come on, but Forest Green levelled the match. If that change was made a few minutes earlier, it may have been a different story.
Also, Taylor was subbed off after picking up a knock, with Gatlin O’Donkor replacing him, while Steve Seddon came on for Stuart Findlay, who had a poor game.
Unfortunately, McGuane aside, the changes made little impact as the U’s struggled to get themselves back into the game.
It is worth a mention about how well Eastwood, Anderson and Bate, in particular, all played.
