Oxford United bounced back in style from two defeats last week with a 4-0 win away at Charlton.
The U’s took the lead through Matty Taylor before the striker doubled the advantage prior to the half-hour mark. Sam Baldock netted his first goal for the club after the restart, which also saw the sending off of former Oxford defender Sean Clare, before Cameron Brannagan added a fourth with a sweet strike.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Formation and Line-Up
Not for the first time this season, U’s boss Karl Robinson made a switch to the formation but there was also a key member of the squad replaced from the starting line-up.
Oxford began with a back three of Sam Long, Elliott Moore and Luke McNally but the unexpected change came with Steve Seddon missing out. Instead, Ryan Williams replaced him as the left-wing-back with Mark Sykes on the right.
Herbie Kane and Brannagan sat in the middle with Gavin Whyte playing behind Baldock and Taylor, with Robinson opting for two up top.
Whyte Assists and Striker Goals
Oxford were deadly throughout and the front three of Whyte, Baldock and Taylor was too much for the Addicks to contain.
Whyte laid on three assists in the game; one for Taylor, one for Baldock and one for Brannagan, and his influence on the game behind the top two was a credit to Robinson’s tactics. He has now provided nine assists in his last eight league games.
Meanwhile, Taylor took his goal tally to 18 for the season with two tidy finishes while Baldock showed his capabilities in front of goal with a sensational curling effort.
Clean Sheet
For the first time in 11 games, and just the second in 16, Oxford have finally kept a clean sheet. To do that with a changed defence is not only testament to the personnel, but again to Robinson’s tactics. After the game, the U’s boss praised the attackers as a key part of keeping a shutout.
Speaking to the Oxford Mail, Robinson said: “We kept a clean sheet, which has been the ultimate criticism of us in the last six games.
“We didn’t keep a clean sheet because we defended well, we kept a clean sheet because we were attacking.
“Our desire to recover was incredible – them four in front of the back three were immense.”
