Przemysław Placeta scored a stunning goal to give Oxford a shock 2-1 victory over in-form Ipswich, their first win in six Sky Bet Championship games.
Mark Harris put the Americans ahead in the 28th minute, latching on to a poor pass from Azor Matuszyva and beating Christian Walton for his second try, scoring his first goal of the season.
Ipswich equalized in the 53rd minute with a free volley from the edge of the area after Marcelino Nunez scored Leif Davies with a pinpoint outswinging corner.
However, in the 77th minute, substitute Placheta broke through the defense on the right wing from Brian de Keersmaeker’s ball and scored from 20 yards out, lifting his team out of the relegation zone ahead of Saturday’s match.
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Mark Harris scored Oxford’s first goal against Ipswich on his second try.
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Leaf Davies scores Ipswich’s equalizer volley against Oxford
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Przemysław Placeta scored Oxford’s second goal to put them in the lead again.
Town, who had the potential to move into second place, entered the match in great form having won three consecutive away games.
Oxford head coach Gary Rowett is unable to call up star midfielder Cameron Brannagan, who is out until the new year with a calf injury, so he has given Filip Krastev, who scored the late equalizer against Norwich on Tuesday, a start.
Town had the first chance of the game when Sindre Egeli fired a low shot over the post from 15 yards out from a pass from Davis.
Jayden Philodzine was often the outlet for the visitors on the left touchline, darting into the box and Egeli heading a cross from Davies on overlap in the 21st minute, hitting the outside of the post.
Suddenly, Harris took advantage of Matsuiwa’s sloppy movement at the back and United took the lead.
The goal sent the crowd into a frenzy, and as the stadium became even more noisy, De Keersmaeker fired a powerful left-footed shot that brought Walton to his knees.
Ipswich came roaring back after the break, with Davies volleying home Nunez’s corner to ensure perfect balance and Town’s players suddenly had more spring in their step.
Oxford keeper Jamie Cumming was a busy man, deflecting Philosine’s shot wide of the left post, beating Nunez’s piledriver and putting his body on the line to deny George Hurst’s close-range effort.
But Oxford found a second wind when Walton was forced into a save from Will Lankshear and Ole Romeny came within three points after a goal from Placheta.
managers
Gary Rowett of Oxford University:
“If you’re a No. 9 and you’re not scoring, of course you’re going to get criticized and people will question why you’re playing him.
“But when you watch him every day, Sparky works hard for the team, is a selfless player and has a great press.
“He looked confident in training and it’s great to see him score. The rest of the players will be looking forward to him because they know how much he contributes to the team.”
“Przemy had the pace to damage any team, but his goal was a great pass from Brian (de Keersmaeker) and I thought his touch was good and he finished really well.
“We had a particularly tough week playing Saturday, Tuesday and Friday, so we made some changes. We felt like we had to make them. There were some big decisions to be made. Starting Sparky instead of Will (Lankscher) was something I struggled with all day.
“I was really disappointed with the goal we conceded. It was a good finish but it was too easy to concede.
“Then we had to make a real decision. Do we sit back and hang on to get points or do we show a little bit of quality and ambition and character and change the way we play? For 10-15 minutes we stepped up really well.
“It was a big week for us. We had two good draws and then a win against a well-coached team with very good players.”
Kieran McKenna from Ipswich:
“We were not clinical enough when we were in control of the game and gave away two poor goals that changed the momentum of the game and the energy of the stadium.
“It’s a little frustrating because we felt like we gave the game away after we were playing pretty well. But there were still a lot of great performances. Even though we lost 2-1, the players never gave up.”
“In the second half when we were level, we felt the only way for Oxford to score was from a counter or a long throw. We were pushing for the winning goal and it came on the counter and we didn’t do enough to deal with it.
“Goals change the game. Their first goal shook us a little bit and it was the same with the second goal.
“It was frustrating that we didn’t score more chances that we had in the second half. We’ve been very good in the last few away games. We didn’t do that tonight, but that paid for itself.”
