Oxford United have made it two wins from two at home with a 3-1 win over Preston.

The U’s fell behind early but goals from Mark Harris, Tyler Goodrham and Greg Leigh secured a decent win at Grenoble Road.

Here are three talking points from the game.

Two Halves in the First Half

Oxford fell behind inside the opening two minutes and it looked like it could be a long afternoon for Des Buckingham’s side.

North End also forced Jamie Cumming into a wonderful saves and had five shots at the Oxford goal in the opening 20 minutes but crucially, failed to add to their lead.

The U’s were unable to get a foothold on the match but when Josh McEachran lifted a ball into the box for Harris to flick home the equaliser with Oxford’s first attempt on goal, it changed the half.

From there, the hosts created plenty of chances themselves and restricted the opposition. The key point was McEachran being able to get hold of the ball in the middle of the park.

Resilience

Having fallen behind early doors, and with Preston squandering several early chances, it could have been easy for Oxford to crumble.

However, they regrouped, stuck to the game plan and worked their way back into the match.

The U’s were deserved winners in the end and that was largely in part of their reliance when behind in the game.

They were, of course, helped along the way by a Goodrham wonder-strike, a red card for the visitors and a Leigh goal from the resulting free kick.

Injuries and Dembele Debut

Despite turning the first half around, there was some bad news for Buckingham. Both Matt Phillips and Joe Bennett were forced off through injury so club-record signing Siriki Dembele and Leigh replaced the duo.

In the second half, Peter Kioso looked as though he was going to be forced off but the defender battled on. However, Buckingham did bring Will Vaulks and Idris El Mizouni on for McEachran and Ruben Rodrigues.

On Dembele, the winger was electric. His first thought was always to get behind the Preston defence and his pace was causing constant problems for the visitors. It was a good start for the debutant.