The U's Matchzone

Three Talking Points as Oxford Win Against Accrington

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Oxford United secured their first win in six games with a 5-1 victory over Accrington Stanley. A brace from Nathan Holland and second-half goals from Matty Taylor and Mark Sykes gave over 5,000 U’s fans something to cheer before a last-minute own goal rounded off the scoreline. Here are three talking points from the game.

Nathan Holland

Nathan Holland was named in the starting line-up for just the second time this season. So far, the West Ham loanee has failed to hit the ground running and this felt like it needed to be a big performance from the winger.

That was exactly what he gave, and his first goal was typical of what Oxford have missed from their wingers so far this season. The 23-year-old picked the ball up and burst into space towards the Stanley defence before calmly slotting the ball home.

His second was also a tidy finish. The winger picked the ball up in a central position before feeding Taylor. The striker then played the ball out to Steve Seddon who found Holland in the box having continued his run from midfield.

Playing to Taylor’s Strengths

Matty Taylor has scored in back to back games following his strike against Gillingham last time out, and both goals have similarities.

Against the Gills, Herbie Kane played the ball over the defence for Taylor to run on to before slotting the ball home. Against Stanley, the ball was played through to Taylor in space and the striker ran towards goal before cleverly dinking the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

Taylor is lethal when played in behind and the goals will give him confidence. Not only does Taylor enjoy the ball over the top but he also likes it squared into the box. While he didn’t score from this position against Accrington, the U’s played that way and Mark Sykes scored from one of these chances.

Even Statistics but Oxford Finally Clinical

Against Gillingham, Oxford dominated possession and created far more chances on goal. However, against Stanley, the statistics were far more equal.

The main difference between the two games is that Oxford were finally clinical in front of goal against Accrington and didn’t squander chances, as has been the case in previous matches.

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