Oxford United began 2023 with a defeat at home against Exeter.
The U’s started the game brightly and should have been ahead by the break, but the visitors made the breakthrough in the second half.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Line-Up
Ed McGinty remained in goal with Simon Eastwood “48 hours away”. There was a first start for Yanic Wildschut, who came in for Josh Murphy, while Tyler Goodrham was given his first league start.
The rest of the lineup was pretty self-explanatory with a back four of Ciaron Brown, Sam Long, Elliott Moore and Djavan Anderson, while the midfield three of Lewis Bate, Marcus McGuane and Cameron Brannagan stayed in place.
Substitutions
In their previous win over Charlton, Karl Robinson’s tactical changes helped the U’s across the line but they had the opposite effect against the Grecians.
Murphy, who had an electric 45 minutes against the Addicks, failed to make any kind of impact after replacing Wildschut while Bodin, who also looked lively last time out, was equally as ineffective.
Findlay replaced Anderson, who had been struggling with illness, so Long moved to right back while Gatlin O’Donkor once again replaced Matty Taylor, but he was unable to get into the game.
Tale of Two Halves
Oxford began the game with blistering speed. It was a bright start and the U’s saw several opportunities come and go. Goodrham produced two good saves, Taylor hit the post and Anderson and Wildschut created several chances from their respective wings.
However, the tie felt even after the restart and the changes didn’t help Oxford. It felt like one goal would win it and that was the case when Exeter opened the scoring, with Oxford’s midfield three unable to make an impact.
