Oxford United beat Charlton 2-1 in the first League One home game

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Oxford vs Charlton Match Report

Fans finally packed out the Kassam Stadium to inspire an energised performance for the U’s to run out 2-1 winners on a gloriously sunny day.

In the warm-up, Anthony Forde picked up an injury, and any doubts of Ryan Williams ability to stand-in as an unfamiliar right back position were dispelled with the opening goal in a lung-busting man of the match performance. His biggest impact came in the 23rd minute after he won the ball and naturally pushed forward as Brannagan released Whyte for a shot, leaving the Australian with an easy finish to send the 7000 home fans in raptures.

Brannagan’s clever play was instrumental in the opener, and the former Liverpool man went one better in the 31st minute when his intelligent run saw him sweep in another loose ball after a Sykes cross. 2-0 up and manager Karl Robinso must have been delighted.

Five minutes later the landscape changed when Winnall was unfairly judged to have handballed in midair, and referee Thomas Bramall pointed to the spot. It was Stevens’ turn to face another penalty for the second league game in a row, and perhaps had Eastwood’s midweek heroics in the back of his mind. Either way, Washington easily finished clawing one back and taking it 2-1 into the halftime break.

After the break, things went understandable flat after the high tempo first half, and perhaps Winnall should have done better in the 61st minute when he slid into another Sykes cross and pushed it wide. The game ended in a 2-1 and 3 points in the bag, and 9th place. With no goals conceded from open play and unbeaten, it’s a great start albeit only 2 games in. Hopefully, United can keep up the momentum in the next game; the 7:45 Tuesday kick off home match vs Crewe in League One.

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Oxford United Fixtures and Results 21/22