Brandon Thomas-Asante scored his first goal for Coventry City to fire the Championship side through to the third round of the Carabao Cup for the first time in 12 years.
Ephron Mason-Clark and Victor Torp were both denied by the Oxford United goalkeeper as the Sky Blues dominated the second half at the CBS Arena, desperately trying to add to their 62nd minute opener – a deflected shot that looped over Matt Ingram.
Norman Bassette made an eye-catching debut, showing terrific pace as he led the line for just over an hour while Ben Sheaf made a welcome return from injury, going on in the 73rd minute in his first outing of the new campaign
STARTING FORMATION: 4-2-3-1
BEN WILSON: 5.5
Commanded his area well and nice and vocal in a relatively untested first half. Continued to be a relative bystander after the break as City dominated, got their goal and looked to increase their advantage.
JOEL LATIBEAUDIERE: 5.5
Didn’t get forward that often in the first half as he filled in for Van Ewijk at right-back but solid and reliable throughout.
BOBBY THOMAS: 6.5
Nice and positive and aggressive from the start as he looked to impress and regain his place in City’s Championship starting line-up. Defended well in the first half when he made some decent recovering tackles. Rarely troubled as City bossed the second half but played his part in the clean sheet overall.
LIAM KITCHING: 6.5
Thumped the underside of the Oxford crossbar with an early header from a corner and looked calm and composed at the back in a solid first half. Decent display from the defender who, like Thomas, was rarely called upon after the break until a frantic final ten minutes when United launched a late fightback.
JAY DASILVA: 5.5
Got forward well on the overlap and linked up nicely with Thomas-Asante down the left flank. Solid enough display.
JAMIE ALLEN: 6
Hard working and disciplined alongside Eccles in the holding midfield roles. Didn’t really put a foot wrong before eventually making way for Sheaf.
JOSH ECCLES: 6.5
Knocked the ball about well, looking to play diagonal passes to free the wide men. Read the game well, getting a foot in to nick possession to turnover the ball
BRANDON THOMAS-ASANTE: 7
Lively and tricky on the ball on the left of the forward three, twisting his marker left and right and linking up nicely with Palmer. Showed quick feet and bursts of speed to get City on the attack in an eye-catching forward line full of pace and skill. Broke the deadlock just after the hour when played in by Palmer and hit a shot which took a deflection to loop over the keeper.
KASEY PALMER: 6.5
Deployed in the number 10 position, the play-maker started well, had a couple of shots off target and was involved in a lot of City’s approach pay. Set up Thomas-Asante for his goal with a well-weighted pass.
EPHRON MASON-CLARK: 7
Deployed on the right rather than his usual left to start the game where he provided a tricky outlet down that side, showing Greg Leigh a clean pair of heels on one occasion to send in a terrific ball to the box for a first half chance. Forced the keeper to save at his near post in the second half when he switched to his more natural left side, and again minutes later when he was denied by a brilliant stop. Much more of a threat in the second 45.
NORMAN BASSETTE: 6.5
Made a confident start, making darting runs and pointing for the ball to be played in front of him as he was deployed in Ellis Simms’ usual position. Burst into the box and hit his first shot in the 14th minute but hit it straight at the keeper. Impressive debut which earned him warm applause from the fans when he went off just after the hour.
SUBSTITUTES:
TATSUHIRO SAKAMOTO (62 mins, for Bassette): 5.5
Got straight into the game and added a fresh and lively threat on the right where he linked up with Van Ewijk.
VICTOR TORP (62 mins, for Eccles): 6
Slotted straight in and almost scored with a well placed shot that was pushed wide by the keeper.
MILAN VAN EWIJK (62 mins, for Latibeaudiere): 7
Injected pace and a renewed threat down the right as City dominated and went in search of a second goal. Defended well, using his pace to good effect when required.
BEN SHEAF (73 mins, for Allen): 5.5
Received the biggest cheer of the night when he made his long-awaited return from injury.
JACK RUDONI (90+3 mins, for Palmer):
Subs (not used): Brad Collins (GK), Ellis Simms, Haji Wright, Jake Bidwell.
OXFORD UNITED (4-3-3): Matt Ingram; Peter Kioso, Sam Long, Ciaron Brown, Greg Leigh; Louis Sibley, Josh McEachran, Cameron Brannagan; Owen Dale, Dane Scarlett, Malcolm Ebiowei.
Subs (not used): Simon Eastwood (GK), Will Vaulks, Mark Harris, Idris El Mizouni, Tyler Goodrham, Ruben Rodrigues, Jack Currie, James Golding, Gatlin O’Donkor.
GOALS:
SKY BLUES: Thomas-Asante (57)
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